Forgive my ignorance, but I wonder about the implications of transsexualism on the legality of same-sex marriage. If a transsexual is married at the time s/he decided to have a sex-change operation, would the de facto same-sex marriage continue to be recognized by the law even in countries where such marriages are otherwise prohibited? What’s the legal situation in the US?
Thanks in advance for you help.
In the US, there are apparently a few states that do not recognize the change in sex in a post-op transsexual. I believe Texas is one.
Therefore, if a man marries a woman, then goes through a MTF transsexual operation, as far as the state is concerned, they are still a man/women marriage, and are legal.
I’ve heard that some couples have moved to these states to take advantage of this “loophole”.
I have no idea about other countries, or even if the laws in those states in the US may be currently changing. Hopefully one of our legal dopers may warder in and give us some better facts.
In re marriage, IIRC only Kansas and Texas have supreme court rulings on the matter, and both have ruled that sex is set by chromosomes at birth. These rulings had the effect of invalidating the marriages of the trans-women involved in the cases, since they were both born biologically male.
In the United States, only Massachusetts recognizes same-sex marriage, so presumably the original sexes of the people involved are irrelevant. Vermont recognizes same-sex civil unions which for purposes of the state are supposedly legally identical to mixed-sex marriage. I’m unaware of any instance of a transperson seeking either a marriage or a civil union in Vermont so I don’t know how the state would handle it.