Born a boy, but fighting for death benefits as widow

[Shana A]

Born a boy, but fighting for death benefits as widow

By Kathryn Watson
The Washington Times

8:35 p.m., Tuesday, August 10, 2010

http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2010/aug/10/born-boy-but-fighting-for-death-benefits-as-widow/

Gay marriage aside, can someone born a man also be eligible for the rights of a wife and a widow?

That is what courts in Texas are trying to determine in the case of Nikki Araguz, a transgendered person who was born as Justin Purdue and is being barred from spending or collecting the death benefits of her husband, Capt. Thomas Araguz, a 30-year-old firefighter killed in the line of duty July 4.

The case, which transgender advocates hope will result in the overturning of a Texas law that says a person's sex is defined at birth, immediately concerns about $600,000 in survivor benefits, with Nikki Araguz on one side and Simona Longoria, the mother of Capt. Araguz, on the other.

[Natasha]

Video – Born a boy, but fighting for death benefits as widow

http://purestrange.wordpress.com/2010/08/13/video-born-a-boy-but-fighting-for-death-benefits-as-widow/
8/13/10

Gay marriage aside, can someone born a man also be eligible for the rights of a wife and a widow?

That is what courts in Texas are trying to determine in the case of Nikki Araguz, a transgendered person who was born as Justin Purdue and is being barred from spending or collecting the death benefits of her husband, Capt. Thomas Araguz, a 30-year-old firefighter killed in the line of duty July 4.

The case, which transgender advocates hope will result in the overturning of a Texas law that says a person's sex is defined at birth, immediately concerns about $600,000 in survivor benefits, with Nikki Araguz on one side and Simona Longoria, the mother of Capt. Araguz, on the other.