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By HARVEY RICE Submitted by Erick Spangler Date: 2004 Jun 04 Comment on this Work [[2004.06.04.14.35.26282]] |
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June 3, 2004, 6:08AM Transexual's divorce stalls when she refuses to be he Original suit sought annulment, citing laws on same-sex marriages By HARVEY RICE Copyright 2004 Houston Chronicle A transsexual's attempt to get a regular divorce stalled Wednesday after she refused to be certified as a man, leaving a Harris County judge presiding over a divorce trial between two women. The refusal by Linda Gail Carter, who legally changed her sex from male to female in May 1998, came during the first day of her trial for divorce from Constance D. Gonzalez. Carter's refusal to certify that she is a man undercut an attempt by her attorney, Elsie Martin-Simon, to try the case as a regular divorce before State Family Court Judge Lisa Millard. Millard has imposed a gag order on the participants because of publicity surrounding the case. Carter, 60, originally sued to annul her marriage to Gonzalez. They were married in Las Vegas four months after Carter changed her sex and name from James H. Murphey. Wedding photos show Carter dressed as a man. If the marriage is annulled, Carter would regain control of a funeral home and other property from the marriage that the court has given to Gonzalez. The court granted a temporary injunction awarding control to Gonzalez last year after she alleged that Carter was mismanaging the funeral home finances. The lawsuit by Carter originally claimed the marriage should be dissolved because two women cannot be married under Nevada or Texas law. In March, Millard ordered Carter to undergo genetic testing to determine her sex. The results of the testing have not been made public, but Martin-Simon told the judge Wednesday that she had abandoned the argument that two women cannot be married. Millard refused to allow Martin-Simon to abandon the argument unless Carter agreed to certify that she is a man, saying the issue continues to be raised in testimony. "Are you a male or a female?" Millard asked Carter. "According to doctors, both," Carter replied. Millard considered the answer a refusal to certify that Linda Carter is a male. Gonzalez's attorney, S.C. Childress, appeared to be trying to show that Carter has continued to use the name James H. Murphey when it suits her. Under questioning by Childress, Carter admitted to signing a document Linda Gail Carter and in the same document giving James H. Murphey power of attorney. Carter, who also is an ordained minister under the name James H. Murphey, testified that she had performed at least one marriage as Murphey since legally changing names. The trial is expected to last about seven days, and Carter is expected to resume testimony today. Lawyer Jerry Simoneaux, president of the Stonewall Law Association of Greater Houston, said the 4th State Court of Appeals ruled in a San Antonio case that sex is determined by chromosomes, not by birth certificate or court order. Carter has taken female hormones and had some surgical procedures in preparation for a sex change but has not completed the transformation. Her Texas driver's license continues to list her as a male. |