Governor Cuomo proclaims Edie Windsor day in New York State

For Championing LGBTQ Rights and Leading the Fight for Marriage Equality, Governor Cuomo Issues Proclamation on Her Birthday, June 20 as a tribute to her legacy championing equality and justice for the LGBTQ community, and for being on the front lines of the fight for marriage equality. Today would have been Edie’s 89th birthday.

“Edie was an iconic New Yorker who shaped history and taught us that love always wins,” Governor Cuomo said. “Proclaiming her birthday as Edie Windsor Day is a fitting way to salute a true New York hero whose strength, perseverance, and conviction in the face of adversity continues to inspire all of us.”

Edith Windsor as the grand marshals during the annual gay pride march in New York, June 30, 2013.

The proclamation reads as follows:

Whereas, all New Yorkers are proud to join in honoring the life and legacy of Edie Windsor, a pioneer and icon in the LGBTQ movement who inspired New Yorkers and people around the world through her courage, leadership, and tireless commitment to ensuring equality and justice; and

Whereas, throughout her extraordinary life, Edie broke down barriers – in her professional career working with early mainframe computers, having achieved the highest technical position of Senior Systems Programmer at IBM and, through her personal drive as a powerful and fearless voice for the LGBTQ community in New York and across the nation; and

Whereas, her landmark victory in United States v. Windsor marked a watershed in the movement to secure marriage rights for same-sex couples and paved the way for nationwide marriage equality; and

Whereas, Edie’s strength, perseverance, and conviction in the face of adversity has made her a hero to all New Yorkers and an invaluable inspiration to countless others in the fight for equality; and

Whereas, June 20, 2018 marks what would have been Edie’s 89th birthday, and all New Yorkers are proud to join in honoring and remembering Edie’s extraordinary life, her legacy of groundbreaking leadership, and her lasting contributions to equality everywhere;

Now, Therefore, I, Andrew M. Cuomo, Governor of the State of New York, do hereby proclaim June 20, 2018 as
Edie Windsor Day
in the Empire State in honor of her legacy of groundbreaking achievements and indelible contributions to our great state and nation.

Given under my hand and the Privy Seal of the State
at the Capitol in the City of Albany on this sixteenth day of June in the year two thousand eighteen.

Governor Andrew M. Cuomo