Attorney for Nikki Araguz, trans widow of Thomas Araguz, announced today that the decision against Mrs. Araguz will be appealed. News release today from Phyllis Randolph Frye, attorney representing Nikki Araguz. The release is reproduced in its entirety below the fold. Thanks.
I am not an attorney, nor am I directly involved in the outcome of this case. That said, I do hope to see Nikki prevail ultimately.
Phyllabuster: News of the TG Widow of the Deceased Firefighter
Below is the press release sent out today by my law firm. My firm has been litigating this for approximately ten months. Anyone wishing to financially assist us in any amount by credit/debit card or other method, please contact our office manager, Jeffrey, at 713-227-1717 or jforbes@liberatinglaw.com.
Please send this Phyllabuster to all of your lists. As mentioned below, we will post three public documents on our web site by Friday. Hopefully this will assist other lawyers in other parts of the State and country having similar lawsuits. Hopefully these will further educate the non-lawyer community as to our rights and our status. The struggle continues........
Phyllis Randolph Frye
THE PHYLLABUSTER
prfrye@aol.com
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PRESS RELEASE
OFFICES OF FRYE AND ASSOCIATES
Contact Person: Angela Oaks, Partner
713-227-1717
aoaks@liberatinglaw.com
Wednesday, June 01, 2011
Houston, Texas – the law firm of Frye and Associates, representing Nikki Paige Araguz in her legal quest for the sanctity of her marriage to Thomas Araguz, is disappointed with the decision from the 329th Judicial District Court in Wharton County. The decision denies Mrs. Araguz a portion of the death benefits allotted to the surviving spouse of Texas firefighters who die in the line of duty.
Our law firm asserted, and still believes, that the Texas Legislature's 2009 amendment to the Family Code in Section 2.005 (which allows a court ordered sex change to be used as proof of identity for the purposes of obtaining a marriage license) effected a legislative override of the 1999 Littleton v Prange case (which said that legal sex, for the purpose of marriage, is determined by a presumption that chromosomes are established at birth and cannot ever be legally changed).
Our assertions were presented to the District Court in our written response along with the affidavits from our legal expert and our medical expert. These three documents -- all public records -- will be posted on the homepage of our www.liberatinglaw.com web site by Friday, June 3rd.
An appeal with the Texas Court of Appeals in Corpus Christi, Texas, will be filed by our firm on behalf of Mrs. Araguz in a timely manner.
I personally find Littleton v Prange (cited by the court in Nikki's case) abhorrent, and feel it sets a bad precedent. In addition, the Texas Legislature did indeed add proof of sex change to the list of documents that could be used as valid proof of ID for issuance of a marriage license in 2009.
If you are able to help Mrs. Araguz with her legal expenses, see the information in the release above. Thanks for all you do!
4:15 PM PT: The decision has been posted online by the Alliance Defense Fund (conservative lawyers who opposed Nikki) here: AraguzOrder.pdf. It is a PDF file.
4:30 PM PT: For anyone not aware of Phyllis Frye, she is the First Transgender Judge in Texas, and arguably the first in the nation.