The Marginalian
The Marginalian

Down with DOMA: Edith Windsor’s Historic Call with President Obama, Illustrated by Debbie Millman

UPDATE: Now available as a print.

Shortly after the U.S. Supreme Court deemed DOMA unconstitutional June 26, 2013 and made marriage equality a reality, reconstructionist Edith “Edie” Windsor, who had bravely pushed her case through the justice system to the very top and eventually changed the law that had subjected her bereavement to unacceptable injustice, received a phone call from President Barack Obama, delivering the happy, historic news. Obama himself had spoken up against DOMA over the course of Windsor’s years-long case and proclaimed the ruling a “victory for American democracy” after the Supreme Court decision was announced.

In our latest collaboration, modern sage, author, artist, and interviewer extraordinaire Debbie Millman captures Windsor’s heartfelt response when the President called, per the New Yorker’s report, in her signature style of artfully abstracted hand-lettered poetics:

The piece is available as a print on Society6.

De-abstracted transcript:

Hello, who am I talking to? Oh, Barack Obama? I wanted to thank you. I think your coming out for us made such a difference throughout the country.

See the first two installments of Debbie’s Brain Pickings Artist Series here and here, and celebrate Edie’s extraordinary story here.

Official White House photograph of Barack Obama by Pete Souza


Published July 1, 2013

https://www.themarginalian.org/2013/07/01/obama-phone-call-edie-windsor-debbie-millman/

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