Posted on
Advocate.com April 10, 2012 04:00:00 AM ET
Op-ed: The Importance of Marriage Equality to Trans Community
Some transgender people are frustrated by the significant resources that our organizations devote to marriage equality efforts, but there's reason to believe it will make a difference.
By Matt Wood, op-ed contributor
http://www.advocate.com/Politics/Commentary/Oped_The_Importance_of_Marriage_Equality_to_Trans_Community/While this frustration is understandable, it may be short-sighted. First, it ignores the fact that many transgender people are also lesbian, gay, or bisexual, or in relationships that the government views as legally "same-sex," even if the partners consider themselves to be different sex.
For instance, a marriage between a trans man and a non-trans woman might or might not be legally recognized as a valid different-sex marriage. That's because the standard for having a person's gender identity legally recognized depends upon where they were born, and where they currently live. While most states permit a person to change the gender on their birth certificate, many require the person to have some kind of medical intervention in order to do so — medical intervention that many transgender people may not be able to afford, or may not want. Some states, including Idaho, Tennessee, and Ohio, refuse to change the gender marker on birth certificates.
