Two men kiss as they sit in a riverside park in New York, May 9, 2012. 
 
 An ailing 83-year-old lesbian asked the Supreme Court on Monday to hear her legal challenge against a federal law that defines marriage as a union between a man and woman, attempting to place her case on a fast-track to the top court. 
 
 The suit, filed by Edith Schlain Windsor in 2010, targets the Defense of Marriage Act, a law passed by the U.S. Congress in 1996 that denies federal benefits to lawfully married same-sex couples. 
 
 Windsor's petition attempts to bypass the U.S. Court of Appeals, which is slated to hear the case in September. 
 
 With Windsor's filing, there are three petitions pending before the Supreme Court over the constitutionality of the Defense of Marriage Act, an issue the high court could take up in oral arguments as early as next spring, said Windsor's lawyer Roberta Kaplan, of Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison LLP. 
 
 "This case presents a question of exceptional national importance: the constitutionality of a statute, the Defense of Marriage Act ('DOMA'), that daily affects the lives of thousands of Americans," the petition said. 
 
 In June, a New York district court ruled in Windsor's favor, finding that a central provision of the law discriminates against married same-sex couples. The case is now on expedited appeal before the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. 
 
 But Windsor's lawyers argue that premature review of her case by the Supreme Court is warranted since the issue is already before the court. Also, Windsor suffers from a heart condition that could end her life before the case is resolved. 
 
 The American Civil Liberties Union originally filed the suit in New York on behalf of Windsor, a former computer programmer who married Thea Clara Spyer in Toronto, Canada, in 2007. The two were engaged in 1967. 
 
 Spyer died in 2009 after a long battle with multiple sclerosis, leaving her property to Windsor. Because the marriage was not recognized under federal law, Windsor had to pay more than $363,000 in federal estate taxes, according to the suit. 
 
 Six states have legalized same-sex marriage since DOMA went into effect, including New York in 2011. But federal law and programs do not recognize those marriages because of DOMA. 
 
 Windsor's attorneys argue that the federal law violates the 14th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution which prohibits states from denying people equal protection under the laws. 
 
 Federal courts in New York, California and Massachusetts all found the law unconstitutional for different reasons, applying varying standards of legal analysis. 
 
 The Republican-controlled House of Representatives, through its Bipartisan Legal Advisory Group (BLAG), is defending the law, which the Obama administration has largely abandoned. President Barack Obama in 2011 instructed the Justice Department to stop defending the law in courts, finding it unconstitutional. 
 
 Paul Clement, a lawyer for BLAG, did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Windsor's petition. (Reporting by Terry Baynes; Editing by Vicki Allen) 

 On Monday, lawyers filed a petition on behalf of Edith "Edie" Windsor, an 83-year-old lesbian from New York, asking the Supreme Court to review her case, thus bypassing a second round in the 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals, where the case is scheduled to appear next. Earlier this month, the Obama administration asked the high court to review two other cases challenging DOMA's constitutionality. With Windsor's petition, there are now three cases, from three of the most significant gay marriage states, that could challenge DOMA at the Supreme Court as early as next spring, if the court consents to hear them. 
 
 Windsor sued the government in 2010, after the death of her partner of more than 40 years forced Windsor to pay more than $363,000 in federal estate tax on her partner's estate. 
 
 Windsor and Thea Spyer were married in 2007, in Canada, and while New York recognized the marriage, the federal government did not. When Spyer got sick, she chose to leave her entire estate to Windsor. Had Windsor been married to a man, she would not have had to pay any estate tax, according to court documents; therefore, her suit argues, DOMA violates the equal protection clause of the U.S. Constitution. 
 
 On June 6, the New York District Court sided with Windsor. Last month, Mayor Michael Bloomberg and City Council Speaker Christine Quinn filed a joint amicus brief in support of Windsor. 
 
 Federal courts in California, Massachusetts and New York have now held that DOMA is unconstitutional, each on different grounds. In 2011, President Barack Obama announced that the U.S. Department of Justice would no longer defend its constitutionality. 
 
 Roberta Kaplan, Windsor's lawyer, said that Monday's petition to speed the lawsuit's movement through the courts was due in part to her client's age and health. On June 13, after the Bipartisan Legal Advisory Group filed a notice of appeal, Windsor filed a motion to expedite the latest appeal. 
 
 Kaplan explained to HuffPost, "Edie and Thea were together for more than four decades and truly lived the words 'in sickness and in health, until death do us part.' Solely because of DOMA, Edie had to pay more than $363,000 in federal estate tax, which is one of the most significant adverse impacts of DOMA. Edie, who just turned 83, suffers from a chronic heart condition. The constitutional injury inflicted on Edie should be remedied within her lifetime.” 
 
 In the petition to the court, the lawyers argued that the case is a straightforward example of how DOMA financially impacts married same-sex couples. 
 
 This is a developing story. Check back for updates. 
 
 On the phone Monday, Windsor told The Huffington Post that she never dreamed her lawsuit would get this far. At family breakfasts, Windsor said, two 10-year-old cousins have started asking her every morning, "Is it in the Supreme Court?" 
 
 "I tell them, 'We don't know yet. Not today. But we hope we will be there, and I'll let you know when,'" Windsor said. 
 
 When U.S. District Court Judge Barbara Jones ruled in Windsor's favor last month, Windsor said she walked around, looking at all the photographs of Spyer displayed on the walls of her New York home. 
 
 Windsor said she was thrilled about how wide-reaching the implications of her case could be for other same-sex couples. But her first reaction was, "I need to tell Thea immediately," she recalled. "So I walked around, looking at the pictures and I said, 'Oh honey, look what's happening.'"
– An 83-year-old lesbian from New York is hoping the Supreme Court will review her challenge to the federal ban on gay marriage while she is still alive. Edith Windsor, who suffers from a heart condition, has asked the court to hear her challenge to the Defense of Marriage Act, Reuters reports. Windsor married partner Thea Spyer in Toronto in 2007 after a 40-year engagement. But when Spyer died in 2009 and left her property, Windsor was forced to pay $363,000 in federal estate taxes because their marriage was not recognized under federal law. A federal judge in New York last month ruled in favor of Windsor, who argues that DOMA unconstitutionally discriminates against married same-sex couples. "Edie and Thea were together for more than four decades and truly lived the words 'in sickness and in health, until death do us part,'" her lawyer tells the Huffington Post. "Solely because of DOMA, Edie had to pay more than $363,000 in federal estate tax, which is one of the most significant adverse impacts of DOMA. Edie, who just turned 83, suffers from a chronic heart condition. The constitutional injury inflicted on Edie should be remedied within her lifetime."