There is a sad story in the paper about a transgender woman in Texas, Nikki Araguz, who is being barred from collecting the death benefits of her husband, a firefighter killed in the line of duty. Her late husband's mother is arguing that Ms. Araguz was born a man and that since Texas defines marriage as the union of a man and a woman, the marriage is void and she has no rights to spousal and survivor benefits.
In many jurisdictions transgender people are legally the sex they've transitioned to and have been able to marry someone of the (now) opposite sex. What's interesting about this story is that a transgender activist is decrying the confusion between the rights of transgenders and the fight for marriage equality for gays:
Shannon Price Minter, legal director for the National Center for Transgender Equality, said the national push for gay marriage has unintentionally hurt transgendered people and resulted in cases like this.
"I think it's very unfortunate that, perhaps because of the visibility of lesbian and gay couples seeking marriage, that transgendered people have been caught up in that frame and have been hurt by that and have actually, in some respects, are more vulnerable now than they have been in the past," he said. "I think it's really only in the past few years that we see pretty ugly cases like this coming up because people are, I think, exploiting homophobia."
Okay, but who was it that insisted that transgender people be conflated with gays and lesbians under the LGBT rubric, if not transgender activists?
10 Comments for “Gay Marriage Fight a Setback for Transgenders?”
posted by Bobby on
Well, if she was allowed to marry a man than she should be allowed to get the benefits. With that said, I don’t really get transgender people, what’s wrong with being a masculine woman or a feminine man? Why spend $20,000 to $50,000+ on a sex change operation trying to pretend to be a gender you’re not? I heard of cases where a man becomes a woman and then goes ahead and sleeps with women! It’s completely insane.
posted by BobN on
Our enemies conflated sexual orientation with transsexuality and cross-dressing a long, long time before any gay or transgender person uttered a peep about freedom, so don’t blame them.
I think what the person quoted is referring to is that some states have gotten a lot more hardcore about opposing accommodations in cases like this, Texas more than most. In the past, before the push for CUs and SSM, a judge might have looked the other way in a case where the husband accepted his wife’s “situation”.
posted by jpeckjr on
Transgender persons are a sexual minority in our culture, as are lesbian, gay, and bisexual persons, and that is why they are grouped together. Having visited with, listened to, and learned from several transgender persons, I am sympathetic to their status as sexual minorities.
However, I have also come to the conclusion that the issues they face regarding acceptance are far more complex than the ones lesbian, gay, and bisexual persons face. Specifically, they are struggling with a self-understanding that must deal with a mismatch between their inner sense of who they are and what their bodies indicate they are.
This case, like all other judicial proceedings, will be decided on the evidence presented to the judge. Even if Ms. Araguz was not transgender, there are some aspects as reported in the linked article that the judge will have to consider and may be more important than her transgender status. While the transgender activists may want Texas law overturned, I bet the judge can make a ruling in the case without going that far.
posted by Bobby on
Transgender people don’t have sexual issues, they have gender issues. Remember all the controversy with the “pregnant man,” the woman who got a sex change yet didn’t get rid of her ovaries and later on got pregnant by artificial insemination?
Transgender people aren’t really part of our community, their issues are not our issues. A Male to female transgender isn’t going to pick up men in a gay bar, they go to straight bars where they pretend to be biological women. In fact, that’s why some of them get killed or beaten. Ever watch Jerry Springer? I see them coming out all the time. “Honey, I’m really a man”
I keep hearing how they marched on Stonewall, but I think people are confusing drag queens and tranvestites with transgenders. If the trans people associate with us is more to their benefit than ours. As a libertarian I believe that people have complete ownership of their bodies and are free to do as they like, however, that doesn’t mean I have to like it, approve it, or defend it.
posted by JImmy on
“As a libertarian I believe that people have complete ownership of their bodies and are free to do as they like, however, that doesn’t mean I have to like it, approve it, or defend it.”
You will not defend what you believe? I don’t find this to be true of most libertarians.
posted by Brian on
It’s “transgender” not “transgendered”
posted by Jorge on
Okay, but who was it that insisted that transgendered people be conflated with gays and lesbians under the LGBT rubric, if not transgendered activists?
Ouch.
posted by Bobby on
“You will not defend what you believe? I don’t find this to be true of most libertarians.”
—Not so, just because a libertarian defends the right to smoke cigarettes, watch porn, hire prostitutes and do drugs doesn’t mean that particular libertarian does any or all of those things. We defend freedom even when it doesn’t benefit us directly.
Seriously Jimmy, you need to watch Stossel on the Fox Business Network.
posted by Jimmy on
Bobby –
You just posited the converse of what you previously said. If you believe people have a right to control their personal, physical integrity, then you should be willing to defend those who wish to exert such control. Either you do or you don’t, which is it?
To defend freedom is to ensure the continued benefits of freedom. I find you to be very convoluted in your reasoning, perhaps that is because you positions are usually predicated on your own petty prejudices.
posted by Craig2 on
Interesting. Down here, post-operative transsexuals have had the right to marry since 1994, although they’re not overtly included in anti-discrimination laws.
Craig2
Wellington, NZ