Judge says he can't approve divorce because of insufficient evidence Thomas Beatie was a man when he got married
An Arizona judge has refused to grant a divorce for a transgender man who gave birth to three children after beginning to change his sex from female.
Judge Douglas Gerlach at Maricopa County family court ruled that the state's ban on same-sex marriages prevented Thomas Beatie's nine-year union from being recognised as valid.
Beatie was born a woman. He had a double mastectomy but retained female reproductive organs and gave birth to three children.
Gerlach said he had no jurisdiction to approve a divorce because there was insufficient evidence that Beatie was a man when he married Nancy Beatie in Hawaii. The couple's divorce plans stalled last summer when Gerlach said he was unable to find legal authority defining a man as someone who can give birth.
"The decision here is not based on the conclusion that this case involves a same-sex marriage merely because one of the parties is a transsexual male, but instead, the decision is compelled by the fact that the parties failed to prove that (Thomas Beatie) was a transsexual male when they were issued their marriage license," he said.
The ruling also said it did not address whether Arizona law allowed a person who was born female to marry another female after undergoing a sex change operation.
The National Cent re for Lesbian Rights, which was not involved in the case, has said courts have declared marriages involving a transgender person invalid in a handful of cases across the US, but that those cases had different factual and legal issues than those in the Beatie case.
Beatie was born Tracy Lehuanani Lagondino in Oahu, Hawaii. He began testosterone treatment in 1997 and had a double mastectomy and chest reconstruction surgery in 2002. He changed his Hawaii driver's licence to say he was a man and had a Hawaiian court approve his name change to Thomas.
Gerlach's ruling noted that Beatie halted the testosterone treatment and didn't provide documentation for any additional non-surgical efforts.
Beatie was married in 2003 in Honolulu and became pregnant because his wife was unable to have children. He conceived with donated sperm and gave birth to three children. The couple eventually moved to Arizona.
Beatie has garnered a range of media attention, making the rounds on talk shows such as Larry King and Oprah Winfrey and winning a spot on Barbara Walters' list of "10 Most Fascinating People" in 2008, alongside President Barack Obama, conservative commentator Rush Limbaugh and swimmer Michael Phelps. He also published a book, Labor Of Love: The Story of One Man's Extraordinary Pregnancy, with the cover displaying an image of a shirtless Beatie sporting facial hair and holding a hand over his bare pregnant belly. Reported by guardian.co.uk 4 hours ago.
An Arizona judge has refused to grant a divorce for a transgender man who gave birth to three children after beginning to change his sex from female.
Judge Douglas Gerlach at Maricopa County family court ruled that the state's ban on same-sex marriages prevented Thomas Beatie's nine-year union from being recognised as valid.
Beatie was born a woman. He had a double mastectomy but retained female reproductive organs and gave birth to three children.
Gerlach said he had no jurisdiction to approve a divorce because there was insufficient evidence that Beatie was a man when he married Nancy Beatie in Hawaii. The couple's divorce plans stalled last summer when Gerlach said he was unable to find legal authority defining a man as someone who can give birth.
"The decision here is not based on the conclusion that this case involves a same-sex marriage merely because one of the parties is a transsexual male, but instead, the decision is compelled by the fact that the parties failed to prove that (Thomas Beatie) was a transsexual male when they were issued their marriage license," he said.
The ruling also said it did not address whether Arizona law allowed a person who was born female to marry another female after undergoing a sex change operation.
The National Cent re for Lesbian Rights, which was not involved in the case, has said courts have declared marriages involving a transgender person invalid in a handful of cases across the US, but that those cases had different factual and legal issues than those in the Beatie case.
Beatie was born Tracy Lehuanani Lagondino in Oahu, Hawaii. He began testosterone treatment in 1997 and had a double mastectomy and chest reconstruction surgery in 2002. He changed his Hawaii driver's licence to say he was a man and had a Hawaiian court approve his name change to Thomas.
Gerlach's ruling noted that Beatie halted the testosterone treatment and didn't provide documentation for any additional non-surgical efforts.
Beatie was married in 2003 in Honolulu and became pregnant because his wife was unable to have children. He conceived with donated sperm and gave birth to three children. The couple eventually moved to Arizona.
Beatie has garnered a range of media attention, making the rounds on talk shows such as Larry King and Oprah Winfrey and winning a spot on Barbara Walters' list of "10 Most Fascinating People" in 2008, alongside President Barack Obama, conservative commentator Rush Limbaugh and swimmer Michael Phelps. He also published a book, Labor Of Love: The Story of One Man's Extraordinary Pregnancy, with the cover displaying an image of a shirtless Beatie sporting facial hair and holding a hand over his bare pregnant belly. Reported by guardian.co.uk 4 hours ago.