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Texas considers revoking marriage rights of transgendered people

On Behalf of | Apr 27, 2011 | Family Law

Most states let transgendered people marry. Texas is one of these states – for now. For example, once a man undergoes an official sex change to become a woman, marrying a man is possible as long as a court order verifies the sex change. Now, that family law in the state is possibly about to change.

Only two years after Texas became one of the final states to allow transgendered people to use a court order as proof of their sex change to get a marriage license, some legislators now want to change the law and prohibit transgendered people from getting married.

The proposed legislation would prohibit county and district clerks from using a court order as a basis for issuing a transgendered person a license to marry into what some believe would be a same-sex marriage. This effectively requires the state to follow a 1999 state appeals court decision that states a person’s sex gets assigned only at birth, not through a sex change.

One fear expressed by advocates for the transgendered community is that the proposed Texas legislation not only would prevent future transgender marriage in Texas, but it also could void transgender marriages that have been granted under current law. Advocates for transgendered people claim that the proposed legislation is discriminatory and would be a backwards step for Texas family law.

According to supporters of the bill, the purpose of the proposed legislation is to make sure that the state’s constitution that bans same-sex marriage is followed. As the majority of lawmakers in Texas are Republican, sources expect the controversial bill to eventually pass.

Source

The Washington Post: “Texas lawmakers considering proposal to bar transgendered people from getting marriage license,” Associated Press, 25 Apr. 2011

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