The 13th District Court of Appeals in Corpus Christi ruled today that Houston widow Nikki Araguz's 2008 marriage to Texas fireman Thomas Araguz III, who was killed in the line of duty in 2010, was legally valid.
Chief Justice Rogelio Valdez wrote the opinion, which reverses the 2011 ruling by Houston state district Judge Randy Clapp, who ruled that since Araguz was born male, the marriage was invalid because of the Texas 2005 law which provided that "Marriage in this state shall consist only of the union of one man and one woman." Clapp had issued a summary judgment declaring the marriage void. Texas courts have been adamant in refusing to recognize any legal change in gender for transgender people. Clapp's ruling was based on the ruling in the case Littleton v. Prange, which ruled that even though Christie Littleton had transitioned from male to female, she was still male.
We conclude that this was an error because, on the record before us, the question of Nikki’s sex is a disputed issue of material fact that precludes summary judgment.
--Judge Valdez
But in 2009 the Texas Legislature allowed transgender marriage when it added documentation of a sex change to the identification documents which can be presented in order to obtain a marriage license. According to the opinion issued today, that invalidates the ruling in Littleton v. Prange.
Because of the earlier ruling, Araguz was denied her husband's death benefits. This ruling will no doubt lead to more legal actions trying to award her the benefits she is due.
Araguz's lead attorney, Houston's Kent Rutter said the opinion marks the first time that a court in Texas has recognized that any transgender person has a right to marry.
What the decision today says is Texas law now recognizes that an individual who has had a sex change is eligible to marry a person of the opposite sex. I think it’s a significant victory for trans people in Texas.
Actually, it would be better if they had said that transgender people are eligible to marry whomever they want to marry. This is a victory for heterosexually-oriented transwomen.
The 13th Court of Appeals issued the correct opinion today regarding the legitimacy of Nikki’s Araguz’s sex [female] and marriage [heterosexual] to Thomas Araguz. However, the reversal of the lower trial court’s judgment means Nikki will have to continue her lengthy and expensive fight for full equality over the coming months and likely years to come. What was particularly good for transgender Texans is that the Appellate Court Judges opined that, ‘Texas law recognizes that an individual who has had a ‘sex change’ is eligible to marry a person of the opposite sex. And, historically concluding that the Littleton case was legislatively overruled.
--Meghan Stabler, transgender advocate