The 81-year-old widow of a same-sex partner filed suit in Manhattan federal court on Tuesday challenging the government’s refusal under the Defense of Marriage Act to recognize her Canadian marriage.

Edith Windsor, the sole beneficiary of Thea Spyer’s estate, has been forced to pay $363,053 in federal estate taxes because she is not considered the surviving spouse under the 1996 Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA), which defines marriage as a legal union between a man and a woman.