Top Ten Lesbian Newsmakers of 2012

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Edie Windsor, Equality Advocate

Edie Windsor might just be the woman who brings down the Defense Of Marriage Act. Not only is the 83-year-old lesbian widow the second-runner-up for our SheWired Out Woman of the Year, but this year, Windsor also found out that she'll finally get her day in court. Windsor sued the federal government because its DOMA-based refusal to recognize her marriage to Thea Spyer meant she owed $363,000 in estate taxes after Spyer’s death in 2009—taxes she wouldn’t have owed if her spouse had been a man. In October a U.S. appeals court ruled that DOMA violated Windsor’s constitutional rights, and the Supreme Court has agreed to hear the case next year, meaning it may decide the fate of DOMA, and same-sex marriage rights in general, once and for all. Windsor told CNN she was "elated" at the news that the high court would take her case, saying, "Did I ever think it could come to be, altogether?… Not a chance in hell." 

Depending on how the Supreme Court rules on her case, it seems likely that Windsor might end up on this list again in 2013. 

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