Then Comes Marriage: United States v. Windsor and the Defeat of DOMA

Civil rights lawyer Kaplan, who helped bring down Section 3 of the Defense of Marriage Act in the case United States v. Windsor, shares the remarkable story of the landmark victory for gay rights. Along with detailing her legal strategy in the lower courts, Kaplan weaves her own coming out story and her personal relationship into the story of her clients Edie Windsor and Thea Spyer, but those details never compete. Instead, they provide a revealing juxtaposition of how two very different generations of lesbians wrestled with the social attitudes of their times. It’s a timely, well-told story, brimming with observations about the importance of family and Kaplan’s Jewish heritage. Her explanations of the intricacies of U.S. constitutional law are deft and accessible to the layperson, especially when she divulges the strategy of focusing their legal case on Justice Anthony Kennedy’s jurisprudence. Kaplan’s rallying cry “It’s all about Edie, stupid” keeps the stories of two remarkable women at the center of this historic legal and human drama. Photos. (Oct.)