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

Summary

Roberta Kaplan's gripping story of her defeat of the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) before the Supreme Court. Attorney Roberta Kaplan knew it was the perfect case. Edie Windsor and Thea Spyer had stayed together for better or worse, for forty-four years-battling through society's homophobia and Spyer's paralysis from MS. The couple married in Canada in 2007, but when Spyer died two years later, the US government refused to recognize their marriage, forcing Windsor to pay a huge estate tax. In this landmark work, Kaplan describes her strategy in the lower courts and her preparation and rehearsals before moot courts, and she shares insights into the dramatic oral argument before the Supreme Court justices. Then Comes Marriage is the story of the relationship behind the watershed case, Kaplan's own difficult coming-out journey, and the fascinating unfolding of United States v. Windsor. Full of never-before-told details, this is the momentous account of a thrilling historic and political victory for gay rights.