Everyone knows about the struggle for marriage equality, but not everyone knows the struggle that trans-people go through to marry.
In Connecticut and five other states it is no problem, but in the other forty-four states it is a hodgepodge. As far as I know if you are legally married before you transition, you are still married after your transition even if you change your birth certificate in all 50 states. The problem is if you want to get married after you transition. The court’s rulings are enough to make your head spin. In Texas the court ruled that marriage is based on birth gender, while in California the court ruled that marriage is based on your legal gender. And even crazier, in Kansas the court ruled that a trans-person cannot get married because we are neither a man nor a woman.
In Texas the court ruling means that two people who are legally female can marry if one is a trans-person, while the Kansas ruling totally denies marriage for a trans-persons and it dehumanizes us.
In Connecticut and five other states it is no problem, but in the other forty-four states it is a hodgepodge. As far as I know if you are legally married before you transition, you are still married after your transition even if you change your birth certificate in all 50 states. The problem is if you want to get married after you transition. The court’s rulings are enough to make your head spin. In Texas the court ruled that marriage is based on birth gender, while in California the court ruled that marriage is based on your legal gender. And even crazier, in Kansas the court ruled that a trans-person cannot get married because we are neither a man nor a woman.
In Texas the court ruling means that two people who are legally female can marry if one is a trans-person, while the Kansas ruling totally denies marriage for a trans-persons and it dehumanizes us.
On March 15th [2001], the Kansas Supreme Court ruled that the marriage of J'Noel Gardiner to her late husband, Marshall Gardiner was invalid. In ruling that Gardiner was not a woman in a probate case brought by her late husband's son, the Court wrote, "The words 'sex,' 'male,' and 'female' in everyday understanding do not encompass transsexuals...A male-to-female post-operative transsexual does not fit the definition of a female."In Salon, Tracy Clark-Flory writes…
The Transgender Law & Policy Institute
Officials in Nevada refused to let Danielle Pauline Severson marry her partner, Rebecca Love. No surprise there, right? Same-sex marriage is illegal in the state. But here’s where things get mind-bendingly complicated: California has actually approved Severson’s marriage license, because the state considers her to be a he, according to the Associated Press. The 49-year-old was born a man and — having taken female hormones, changed her name and started wearing feminine clothing — she is now a pre-op transgender woman.That is how confusing and crazy our laws on marriage are when it comes to trans-people. Many trans-people do not see marriage equality as a trans issue, but it is. We shouldn’t have to go shopping to find a state where we can marry the person that we love.
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