Nikkia Araguz Continues Fight for Benefits After the Death of Her Husband
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- Category: LGBT Issues
- Published on Saturday, 28 April 2012 19:35
- Written by Lara Landis
- Hits: 534
Nikki Paige Araguz filed a lawsuit against the city of Wharton, Texas. The firefighter’s widow was denied the death benefits because a void copy of her birth certificate indicates she was born male. Texas law does not permit people who undergo SRS to change their gender on their birth certificates.
Judge Randy Clapp further than simply ruling that Araguz was not the proper widow. Clapp voided the marriage on the basis that same-sex marriages are illegal in the state of Texas.
Peggy Campbell, the lawyer for Araguz, said that she appealed the case because the city is a self-insured carrier.
Clapp based his decision in Littleton v. Prange, a 1999 case which ruled that gender is set at birth and unchangeable. Texas law allows a person to marry anyone as long as the genders on the marriage certificates show male and female.
The case received national attention. Campbell says that same-sex marriage is not the issue in this case. The marriage was a legitimate marriage between a man and a woman.
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