I have emailed and called every LGBT site and group I can get contact info for but no one has been able to answer my question. And it would seem that every website has a different opinion. My question is this....
When my MTF Spouse changes her gender on her birth certificate from male to female and also changes her name legally, will we have to annul our marriage? Or will we still be recognized through the government as a "valid" partnership? I only ask because the first Trans-support site we used says that because we will both then be legal females our marriage will have to be dissolved. But her SSN will be the same so I am confused...
I am putting this question to the SO's who have gone through a full transition with their TSO right down to the legalities, or anyone who has an answer!! Can anyone help us?
(We currently live in Virginia where same sex partnerships are illegal.)
Hi. I honestly don't know the answer, but I'm pretty sure that it depends on where you live. Where I am in BC, Canada it is a non-issue. I think you will get an answer when you update your state or country. Didn't see it on your post or profile. Don't know if that helps... Good luck.
Well......
I am not through with RLT so I'm not able to have SRS yet, but everyone has told me it isn't going to make a difference.
The validity of a marriage is only checked when it is established is what I have been told.
Of course I was born in TN so I cannot change my birth certificate gender at all.
Even my name change was just a strike out. I can say that the name change will cause no changes to your status at all.
I suspect by the time she is able to have SRS they will have struck down DOMA and we won't have any worries.
First, validity of a marriage can be challenged at any point. And it generally isn't considered fully checked at time of marriage - marriages where "proper" documentation were presented can and are challenged, sometimes with the marriage being declared void.
There is also no general statute definition of man or woman. So when they wrote "one man, one woman" into the law, they didn't define man or woman. So it's up to the interpretation of the courts. Your marriage in VA will be considered valid after your spouse's SRS if challenged only if a judge believes (A) it's constitutionally required to allow same-sex *OR* (B) if the judge believes gender is fixed from birth and thus your spouse is an opposite sex partner.
That said, most marriages would never be challenged. Before DOMA and the state-by-state amendments, there would be little question that the marriage would be valid if it was valid when entered into. But today, that's not certain. That said, I'm unaware of any marriage having been declared void after one partner has SRS.
For things like federal taxes and such, it's uncertain (the IRS does have access to gender information from social security).
It's this ambiguity. Different states can see it differently, and that's not right. That's what motivated me to support same sex marriage. Right now, T people are just collateral damage while the right wing goes after LGB's.
If you are highly concerned, I'd suggest talking to a lawyer. That said, unless the law is settled in VA (I doubt it is), even a lawyer likely won't know. For me, I'm in a heterosexual relationship that some states won't recognize. I don't know if the feds would recognize it or not if it were to get contested in federal court. But I know being married is right, and am willing to risk legal consequences. Different people may make different decisions.