From the Perspective of a Divorce Attorney in New York: Same Sex Marriage in Texas, Is It Really?!?

Two women, one born a man, were allowed to marry in Texas. After not being able to get a marriage license in El Paso, Sabrina Hill, and her long time girlfriend, Therese Bur, were legally married, on Monday, in San Antonio.

An article in the Associated Press, by Daniel Borunda, states that, Hill, born with both male and female organs, was listed as male on her birth certificate. After being raised as and serving in the U.S. Army as a male, at the age of 28, a medical examination revealed that Hill had ovaries and she underwent a sex change operation.

When Hill and Bur decided to get married, they asked the attorney general to determine if she was a man due to her birth certificate, or a woman, based upon her name change and operation. The County’s decision was based on the case of, Littleton v. Prange of San Antonio in 1999. In that case, a women filed a wrongful death suit against a doctor due to the death of her husband, and was found not to have been legally married to him because she was designated a male on her birth certificate (she had undergone a sex change operation 7 years earlier), therefore not being able to bring such a suit.

So, the attorney general had decided you are what you are at birth.

Is this a step in the right direction or two steps back from legalizing same sex marriage? I am sure many individuals would disagree with the attorney general and believe that some times nature works in mysterious ways and not every one feels that they are meant to be the same gender as they were born as. Although, is the question of same sex marriage really a question of gender, or is it more a question of choice, having absolutely nothing to do with one’s gender. Sure, the two women who were allowed to get married may be happy being granted a marriage license, but shouldn’t they also be disappointed that they are only being bestowed with the right because one of them was designated a male at birth, which really is no victory at all for same sex marriage, in my opinion. It would seem as though the arguments for “Same Sex Marriage” are about anything but gender, and directly in opposition to the County’s decision.

Personally, as I live and practice in the state of New York, I hope that this state does not take heed of the decision in Texas as one that only solidifies old laws and opinions against same sex marriage, and realizes that the decision of whether two people should get married, taking upon themselves all of the rights and obligations of marriage, should not be a decision based upon gender but one of free choice. As a Divorce Attorney, I see a lot of unhappiness and conflict between spouses of different genders, shouldn’t people of the same gender have the privilege of taking the same risk as any one else?

Until Next Time,

Helen M. Dukhan, Esq., LL.M. @ www.DukhanLaw.Com