Littleton v. Prange
Littleton v. Prange is a 1999 lawsuit that voided the marriage between a man and a transsexual woman. The precedent may result in some Texas marriages being voided where one of the partners is transsexual.[1]
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[edit] Background
Christie Lee Littleton was assigned male at birth, in San Antonio, Texas in 1952. She dropped out of school at age 15 and began living as a woman. In 1977 she began taking female hormones and legally changed her name to Christie Lee Cavazos. In 1980, she completed her surgical reassignment and had her state-issued identification changed to female.[2] In the 1990s she met and married Jonathan Mark Littleton in Kentucky, later moving to San Antonio, where she worked at a salon and he worked as a window washer.
[edit] Case
After her husband's death, Christie Lee Littleton brought a medical malpractice suit against her husband's doctor, Mark Prange.[3] The defense illattorney argued that the marriage was invalid because Christie Lee Littleton was a biological male. On appeal, Chief Justice Phil Hardberger relied on the fact that "Texas statutes do not allow same-sex marriages" and that "male chromosomes do not change with either hormonal treatment or sex reassignment surgery" in handing down his judgment that "Christie Littleton is a male. As a male, Christie cannot be married to another male. Her marriage to Jonathon was invalid, and she cannot bring a cause of action as his surviving spouse."[4]
The decision made it also legal for a woman to marry a man who had undergone sex reassignment surgery and transitioned to female as long as when the two partners were born as the opposite sex.[5][6]
[edit] In fiction
Littleton v. Prange is cited in the 2010 Drop Dead Diva episode "Queen of Mean". In the episode, lawyers for a post-operative transwoman cite the case to prove that her marriage to a biological woman, entered into before she transitioned, was valid, allowing her to inherit her deceased wife's estate.
[edit] See also
[edit] References
- ^ Littleton v. Prange, No. 99-1214 (Tex. 18 May 2000)
- ^ Celia Kitzinger & Sue Wilkinson (2006). Genders, sexualities and equal marriage rights. Lesbian and Gay Psychology Review
- ^ Dahir, Mubarak (October 10, 2000). Genetics vs. love. The Advocate
- ^ Littleton v. Prange, 9 SW3d 223
- ^ Pesquera, Adolfo (September 7, 2000). Lesbian couple get license to wed Transsexual ruling clears the way. San Antonio Express-News
- ^ http://www.statesman.com/news/texas-politics/abbott-declines-transgender-marriage-question-852534.html
[edit] External links
- Opinion by Chief Justice Phil Hardberger, Concurring Opinion by Justice Karen Angelini, Dissenting Opinion by Justice Alma López at the Texas Fourth Court of Appeals website
- Court opinion at Google Scholar
- Story of Christie Lee Littleton, personal website
