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Left out again

By Jamie Phillips-Fox

There has been much said and written in the national media of late regarding the issue of equal marriage rights.
Rightfully so, the main focus seems to be on the impact of the issue on the lesbian and gay community. Once again the transgendered community has been left out of the equation.
While equal marriage has entered the national debate, with the drive to amend the Constitution to ban it, there will eventually be legal challenges made and precedents set.
Already some cities, San Francisco for one, have sanctioned civil marriages. On the state level, Massachusetts has sanctioned legal marriage since May 17.
Locally, political allies of the LGB community have also been supportive of the cause. In Ferndale the Mayor led a widely publicized civil commitment ceremony for 12 couples at once in front of city hall. The mayor lamented that because of existing laws he could not make it a legal marriage.
At the Lansing Pride fest several more couples pledged their unions at the foot of the Capitol steps. Among those couples was one whom I am personally close to. My friends are a transgender couple, one of whom is a genetic woman. The other is a legal male who had his birth certificate changed to reflect his identity. They were the only couple legally married that day.
If the ban on equal marriage is instituted it is possible that the husband's "maleness" may be questioned, or even tested for chromosomal alignment.
Personally my own marriage is at risk. I am a transgender woman, still legally male, married to a post-operative transgender woman. It is possible my wife's gender could also be challenged if a chromosome test is ordered, and our marriage could be revoked by a court.
As of now, no legal precedents have been set to clarify the issue. Does anyone know of a Guinea pig couple who would be a volunteer?
In another marriage that I know of a couple that has been married for more than thirty years have been married as man and wife. Fifteen years into the marriage the husband has come out as transgendered and transitioned to female. The couple has never divorced. At the conclusion of her transition, the new woman changed her birth certificate gender marker to female. Thus I know of legally married same-sex couples already living in Michigan.
The issue of civil marriage between same-sex couples does have an impact on the transgender community, as I hope I have made clear.
It is important to remember that this issue goes deeper than just the LGBT community. It effects all of society when the rights of some are restricted by the efforts of a strong, right-wing conservative movement. The notion that the LGBT community is working for special rights is false. We only seek equal rights.
The conservative right has introduced the civil marriage debate in an election year in an attempt to divide the public, polarize the voters, and create a distraction from the many other issues that should be our society's focus in these troubled times.
This issue has become another battle the LGBT community has been handed. We need to stay informed, up to date, active and committed to the cause, pursuing social justice and equality for all the marginalized communities in our country. With the support of our allies and the leadership of our activism we will continue the struggle. With your help we will eventually win. A noble cause always wins out in the end.

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