Here's my funny story:
I recently had to appear in court regarding a child support hearing. My eldest daughter turned 18 over a year ago, and I was entitled to reduce my child support contributions. She has even moved out of her custodial mom's house. My ex also is now living with a guy, so that I am able to stop my alimony payments. She even acknowledged this in her email to me a couple of months back. Let's also just say, though, that she's not very happy with her ex husband now being a diva about town!
I tried to just have her sign a paper acknowledging these two events, but she refused to sign. I was forced to have to appear in court to state my case to the judge. What you need to know is that the other attorney had painstakingly asked me for everyone financial document I had regarding my last three years of living. Of course, during the last three years I transitioned, sold my business, had surgery(s) and then became unemployed. Hence, my finances are in bad shape. I've since started a new insurance business that focuses on the LGBT market.
Here's how my questioning on the stand went as he was trying to paint me into a corner as a wildly free spending trans girl:
Silly Opposing Attorney- "so, is it true that you spent money on a cruise (lesbian) ?
Julie- "Yes. Lesbians go on cruises, too"
Silly opposing attorney- " did you buy all of your business furniture, and clothes at the Target store?" (a discount place)
Julie- "No" (though his suit did look like it)
SOA- " did you go to Nordstrom's?"
Julie- " yes, their outlet store. They sell shoes in my size, I've got big feet."
SOA- " I'll bet you do!"
SOA- " I understand that you spent $18,000 on your gender surgery and even umpteen more on your facial surgery. Why did you do this?"
Julie- " because I'm a woman, and most every woman I know has a vagina"
SOA- "it's not like it was a matter of life or death or something..."
Julie- "for me it was. Many transgendered women are very depressed and suicidal. Just read the letters from my two psychiatrists" (what woman wouldn't be depressed without a vagina!)
SOA- "ok, let's move on. Your medical expenses are very high and don't add up. What's this other $6500 about?"
Julie- " I had breast augmentation"
SOA- "when you started your transition, you went on hormone therapy. Didn't you grow breasts on hormones?"
Julie- (looking down at her chest) " well, I did go on hormones, but didn't get much growth at all. It's a function of age, genetics and how your body reacts to the medicine."
SOA-" well, again it's not like breasts are a matter of life or death or something. It wasn't really medically necessary, was it?"
Julie- (I wanted to ask if was important to him and the judge if their wives or girlfriends had boobs to play with) Instead I told him, " well insurance companies view breast augmentation as a medical necessity after a woman has a mastectomy. As women, we think that having breasts help define us as women. (I wanted to call him a boob, but I've got more class than he does!) So, yes I needed a pair of breasts!" (he and the judge both were turning red)
In the end, the judge wished Julie Marie and I good luck together. He seemed very respectful and probably was more than a little embarrassed with the lawyer who just pleaded his case before the bench.
Of course, I was waiting for him to ask me if I bought my boobs on sale at Target!
(https://www.susans.org/forums/MGalleryItem.php?id=1863)
Ok that was hysterical!
Cheers,
Myles
ROFL..! ;D ;D
Sounds like you weren't too upset then ? ;D
Chrissty
Great story and it definately gave me a laugh. The other lawyer seems to live a sheltered life if he doesn't know that women have vagina's LOL
:)
Julie, That was great! I love it when the defendant owns the the Attorney. You did awesome.
Nothing like calm and intelligent replies to deflate prejudice.
Good for you Julie :icon_chick: Glad it went well
Quote from: Chrissty on September 14, 2009, 04:16:02 PM
ROFL..! ;D ;D
Sounds like you weren't too upset then ? ;D
Chrissty
No, I wasn't really upset. In fact this lawyer came out into the hall where Julie and my attorney and I were standing and shook our hands. Trust me, I was tempted to say something to make him blush, but I thought modesty and class should rule the day- at least from my side!
I will say however, that Julie and I have a laugh every time we pass by Target!
Bravo Julie! :eusa_clap:
What kind of insurance business did you open?
Becca, I started an independent insurance brokerage that focuses on life/health & retirement products for the LGBT community. BTW, my daughter is also a becca (Becky)!
Neato, congrats :) I hope it works out for you!
Having been raised on trial (my dad was an attorney) I had certain expectations when I sat there in court that day. The SOA was a poor excuse for an attorney. And the questions he asked were at times absurd and pointless but obviously intended to make a mountain out of a molehill. More than once the judge looked at me and rolled his eyes as I was doing the same.
But at least we know that the SOA thinks Target is thee place to go if you want to save money. I'm just not sure how long their office furniture would last. Maybe until someone placed a briefcase on it! :D
Julie
Absolutely brilliant! ;D
Jay
Great writeup, Julie! I can just see you two behaving like naughty school girls in that courtroom. Thanks for a good laugh. I needed it.
BTW, what happened to the child support?
Kristi
I had a good laugh reading this, thanks a lot!
Another refreshing story, today is a good day... ;)
When I had my court hearing it was one of those DUH moments when the judge asked the formal question:
"Is there any chance for a reconciliation?"
My soon-to-be-ex just points at me and says "Ya think?!?"
Everyone had a hard time keeping decorum in the court right then.
-Sandy (so that would be no?)
Post Merge: September 16, 2009, 02:38:58 PM
Quote from: juliekins on September 14, 2009, 02:08:59 PM
Of course, I was waiting for him to ask me if I bought my boobs on sale at Target!
(https://www.susans.org/forums/MGalleryItem.php?id=1863)
I got mine at Bob's Boob Boat! Don't they look natural? Guaranteed not to leak for 1000 jiggles or my money back!
The SOA was a poor excuse for an attorney.
How lucky was that? A real gift. If she had a good one, the outcome might well have been different, as anyone raised at trial would know. Think of it as dodging a bullet.
Quote from: tekla on September 16, 2009, 04:25:39 PM
The SOA was a poor excuse for an attorney.
How lucky was that? A real gift. If she had a good one, the outcome might well have been different, as anyone raised at trial would know. Think of it as dodging a bullet.
It seems we forgot about prejudice in the courts. Julie got the decision today and the judge didn't think having transitional surgeries was sufficient reason to sell her business. The two letters that were submitted and allowed into evidence that said transitioning was a medical necessity apparently had no meaning to the judge. He ordered that she has to continue paying what she did when she had the business, even though her new business has yet to earn an income.
Nice guy.
Welcome to America! Land of the phobes.
Julie
Quote from: Julie Marie on September 16, 2009, 06:03:11 PM
Welcome to America! Land of the phobes.
Julie
I hope it is also the land of appeals!
Kristi
did someone mention insurance? The kind that might actually pay for bloodwork? I'll throw money at people if some of my medical bills actually get PAID!
Then throw it at your doc cause I haven't seen any insurance that covers much of anything.
I don't get it. It seems to me from the OP that the claim was due to changing circumstances with the off-spring a reduction was in order. I can't see how your own personal financial decisions, even if the court wouldn't approve, are relevant.
Either the child moving entitles you to a reduction on the face of it or it doesn't?
(She says acknowledging she has no clue about these things)
Yes, Laura the claim for a reduction was honored for my daughter being emancipated and "of age". I was also granted a non-contested request to eliminate alimony based upon my ex now living with a guy at our former residence.
I was also seeking a 6 month reprieve or serious reduction in child support for my second child. This is due to my current lack of much income, since I'm starting a business from the ground up.
The judge heard the argument from the other attorney that I voluntarily sold my last business. As such, if I don't have the money today to pay the old support amount-well, tough luck. The other counsel grilled me for every penny I spent this last year including those expenses for SRS and FFS. He claimed that my SRS was not a medical necessity, nor my BA, nor my facial. He played down, even to the point of not mentioning my present financial picture.
I made a mistake for releasing this medical information and documentation. I was an honest person, and didn't want to say I couldn't find it. I also listened to my attorney, who I now see as very incompetent. She didn't even give me a heads up that she would be calling me up to testify in my own defense.
In the end, the good ole boys club won. The judge agreed with the other attorney. My only hope would be to try and go back into court, at my own expense, and bring in outside doctors and shrinks to argue the medical necessity angle. I can't afford that at this point.
So folks, in some counties in this country, GID is not considered a medical issue, but a "lifestyle choice". In this country, we still have a ways to go, I guess. If it weren't so damn cold in Canada, I think I would pack my bags. At least there, the provinces think enough of GID to pay for your surgery.
America, welcome back to the 1950's!
there's a ton of progress to be made, to be sure, but let's also thank whatever fortunes we thank that it's NOT the 1950's anymore.
I don't know about you but I have a pretty good idea how bad things would be for me in this town if it was still the 50's
Not to say we shouldn't fight for more progress but i for one am VERY thankful things are so much different than they were even in the 70's, let alone the 50's
Major cultural shifts take time.
Quote from: LordKAT on September 23, 2009, 03:36:24 AM
Then throw it at your doc cause I haven't seen any insurance that covers much of anything.
Not to derail the thread so I'll keep it short, but there are some companies that do a decent job. I was on an aetna plan (through a bank) that paid for everything, but it was also pretty expensive. I was on track to getting SRS possibly covered, but blah blah blah things change, backfire and go to hell.
So now I'm stuck with some crappy HMO, and I'm intrigued by Julie Marie's idea of LGBT-friendly insurance.
Dang that was funny!! I still think you should have asked him if he liked his wife having breasts. What a dult.