Date: Mon, 8 Nov 1999 17:29:34 -0800 From: Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation Subject: GLAADLines - November 8, 1999 GLAADLINES - November 8, 1999 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contact: Wonbo Woo GLAAD Communications Manager (212) 807-1700 x24 woo@glaad.org http://www.glaad.org News and Breaking Stories about the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Community 1) TEXAS COURT INVALIDATES MARRIAGE OF CHRISTIE LITTLETON 2) SHEPARD FAMILY URGES PASSAGE OF HCPA IN WASHINGTON, DC 3) ELECTION DAY ROUNDUP 1) TEXAS COURT INVALIDATES MARRIAGE OF CHRISTIE LITTLETON: On Oct. 27, the 4th Court of Appeals in San Antonio, Texas, upheld a lower court's decision ruling that Christie Littleton could not file a medical malpractice suit against her deceased husband's doctor, Mark Prange, as allowed by the Texas Wrongful Death and Survival Statute. Littleton, a male-to-female transsexual who underwent sex reassignment surgery and had her birth certificate legally altered to reflect that she was a woman, was labeled a male by the court in its decision. In the original trial, Prange charged that Littleton was in fact a man, saying her marriage was therefore void and she should not be entitled to survival spouse benefits. He was granted summary judgment. [see GLAADLines 99.09.20] In the majority opinion released by the appeals court and penned by Chief Justice Phil Hardberger, the court said: "The evidence fully supports that Christie Littleton, born male, wants and believes herself to be a woman. She has made every conceivable effort to make herself a female, including a surgery that would make most males pale and perspire to contemplate." However, it based much of its decision on chromosomal make-up, noting that "male chromosomes do not change with either hormonal treatment or sex reassignment surgery. Biologically a post-operative female transsexual is still a male." The decision also referred to the absence of any statutory law (as determined by the state legislature) regarding the determination of gender, and said that "facts contained in the original birth certificate were true and accurate, and the words contained in the amended certificate are not binding on this court." In the dissenting opinion, Justice Alma López stated: "Christie's amended birth certificate replaced her original birth certificate. In effect, the amended birth certificate nullified the original birth certificate. As a result, summary judgment was issued based on a nullified document. How then can the majority conclude that Christie is a male?" Texas-based transgender law specialist Phyllis Frye commented today about the implications of the ruling: "Whenever there is any challenge in probate or in court where there is a surviving spouse, a lawyer will be committing malpractice per se, if they do not require a chromosome test of the surviving spouse and of the deceased. I also believe that under Littleton, district clerks, in Texas anyway, will have to impose chromosome testing for all people seeking marriage licenses." Frye further pointed out the impact the ruling could have on intersex persons, who do not conform to traditional XX or XY designations of male or female. "A lot of currently married people who are intersexed will be surprised that their formerly legal marriages could be brought into question under Littleton." For more information, contact Frye at (713) 723-8368 or by e-mail at prfrye@aol.com . 2) SHEPARD FAMILY URGES PASSAGE OF HCPA IN WASHINGTON, DC: Dennis and Judy Shepard, the parents of Matthew Shepard, participated in a press conference held today in Washington, DC to urge passage of the Hate Crimes Prevention Act (HCPA), a bill that has languished in the House of Representatives in recent months despite its passage as part of the Commerce, State, Justice appropriations bill by the Senate. [see GLAADLines 99.11.01] In addition to the Shepard family, this afternoon's event featured Sens. Gordon Smith (R-Ore.), Jim Jeffords (R-Vt.) and law enforcement officials from Wyoming. The Shepards called upon the president and Congress to pass the Hate Crimes Prevention Act. Cmdr. O'Malley of the Laramie Police Department elaborated on the reasons for the bill, saying: "I once thought all crimes were hate crimes. I have changed my mind after working on the Shepard case because I have never seen a clearer example of hate motivated crime and the negative ramifications it has on our society." The press conference followed the conviction and sentencing last week of the second of two men charged in Shepard's murder. On Wednesday, Nov. 3, Aaron McKinney was found guilty of two counts of felony murder, kidnapping, second-degree murder and aggravated robbery, and was sentenced Nov. 4 to consecutive life terms without the possibility of parole or appeal. For more information, contact David Smith, Communications Director for the Human Rights Campaign, at (202) 216-1547 or by pager at (800) 386-5996. 3) ELECTION DAY ROUNDUP: The Gay and Lesbian Victory Fund announced five openly lesbian or gay candidates who won elections last week with the Victory Fund's support. Among the most prominent was the election of New York State's first openly lesbian or gay mayor, Dan Stewart (R) in Plattsburgh. A former Air Force sergeant and truck driver, Stewart earned Governor Pataki's endorsement and narrowly defeated the incumbent mayor despite the majority of Democrats in Plattsburgh. The other candidates highlighted by the Gay and Lesbian Victory Fund were: Seth Chafetz, elected to the Birmingham (Mich.) City Commission; Al Oertwig, elected to the St. Paul (Minn.) Board of Education; Jon Cooper (Dem.) to the Suffolk County Legislature in New York; and Annice Parker, elected to the Houston City Council. In addition, openly gay, African-American Larry Bagneris (D) was in an eight-way race for a single seat in the Louisiana State House of Representatives, and because of his strong showing, will be one of two candidates in a special run-off election to be held Nov. 20. In the press release issued, the Victory Fund also decried a number of incidents of "gay-baiting," involving the distribution of anti-gay fliers targeting lesbian and gay candidates in races including those of Oerwig, Cooper, and Bagneris. In another election not involving the Victory Fund, openly lesbian City Council President Mary Clare Higgins was elected mayor of Northampton, Mass., by an overwhelming majority of 66.3% to 30% of the vote. For more information, contact Sloan Wiesen at (202)842-8679 ext. 310. 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