TRANSGENDER MARRIAGE: From the Houston Chronicle

A lawsuit seeking to end the marriage of two women could put a Houston judge in the awkward position of recognizing a same-sex union, an attorney in the case said Tuesday.

"Yes, two females married," said Elsie Martin-Simon, attorney for Linda Gail Carter. "My client's Texas driver's license says 'female.' "

Legal experts say the possible long-term impact is murky in a case in which a transgender man, whom a Texas court declared to be a woman, married another woman in Nevada.

Carter is asking state Family Court Judge Lisa Millard to void her marriage to Constance Gonzales, reasoning that Texas law doesn't recognize same-sex marriages. A hearing in Millard's court is set for March 2.

Carter, a 60-year-old Houston native, said she first realized she was a female when she was 6 years old and known as James H. Murphey. Still, she said, she was attracted to women and eventually got married.

Even during the marriage, Carter said, she took female hormones that caused changes in her body "so that my outside would look like what I felt on the inside." ...

They flew to Las Vegas, she said, where they obtained a marriage license in Clark County and were married by a minister on Oct. 31, 1998.

But Carter said the couple had a falling-out over who controlled a funeral home she had started.

In an attempt to regain control of the property, Carter filed the lawsuit to void the marriage. ...

Lawyer Jerry Simoneaux, president of the Stonewall Law Association of Greater Houston, said he believes Millard will abide by an earlier ruling by the 4th State Court of Appeals in a San Antonio case. That court ruled that sex is determined by chromosomes, not by birth certificate or court order.

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posted by Eve at 3:32 AM VOTE

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