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DawnRWolfe's avatar

...not to mention the chromosomal differences that mean there are actually more than 2 sexes (as opposed to genders). In the mid-aughts I covered a story in Texas where a couple had adopted children. During the marriage they learned the wife had a chromosomal difference that let to her having internal testes instead of ovaries. (This is a very oversimplified explanation) When they divorced, the douchebag ex husband claimed that, under Texas' same-sex marriage ban, the marriage shouldn't be legally recognized and thus he shouldn't have to pay child support. This being douchbag Texas, the douchebag judge agreed. I don't remember, but do hope, that the decision was overturned on appeal.

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Susan Veals's avatar

This doesn't make sense to me. What did the parents' marital status have to do with it? Both parents adopted the children, therefore both parents have to care for the children, including child support based on state rules.

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DawnRWolfe's avatar

The argument that won was that it was not legal for two legally unrelated people to adopt a child in Texas. The marriage was ruled invalid, and, thus, only one person was the legal adopted parent. At the time in Michigan, 2nd parent adoption was also illegal, particularly after the passage of the bigoted Proposal 2. So, since two women or men couldn't legally marry, they also couldn't legally adopt a child together -- only one of the partners was recognized as the legal parent. This caused all sorts of heartaches when couples split, when only one parent was allowed to make medical decisions in an emergency, or when the "legal" parent lost a job and health insurance and the still-employed parent may or may not be able to cover the child under their insurance, depending on their employer.

It doesn't make sense. Right-wing religious nonsense *never* makes sense, except in the context of being about cruelty and control. It doesn't matter who suffers as long as the world is run according to their rules.

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John Henderson's avatar

Swyer's Syndrome? Most Swyer's women are drop-dead gorgeous, many of them excel in modeling and such. The one I'm closest to is genius level intelligent. And she's "all woman" other than infertile.

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DawnRWolfe's avatar

I honestly don't remember, perhaps because the other facts of the case are so appalling they crowded everything else out of my memory.

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Shasta Andersen's avatar

Mom of a trans kid here. Thank you so much, James. 💜

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Lee Gilliland (He/Him)'s avatar

I love this piece and it’s always worth resharing.

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Jolene Racquel LaSalle's avatar

Also, if the creation story from Genesis is to be believed, Eve is the world's first transgender clone. Think about it-you take living matter from one being to create another being, that is cloning. When you take living matter from a man and create a woman, that is transition. That means the woman created is transgender. Ergo, Eve is a transgender clone, which means transgender people have been here since the very beginning.

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