The Defense of Marriage Act’s denial of equal benefits to same-sex couples violates the Equal Protection Clause of the Fifth Amendment, a federal judge ruled on Wednesday.

U.S. District Judge Barbara Jones in the Southern District of New York granted summary judgment to Edith Windsor, who sued the government for failing to recognize her marriage to her partner Thea Spyer, after Spyer’s death in 2009. Windsor and Spyer were married in Canada in 2007.