The Court of Appeal for the First Appellate District, located in San Francisco.
Courts of Arizona and California delivered their verdicts for two divorce cases that as a result recognized transgender marriages, including that of Thomas Beatie, the world's "first pregnant man".
The Arizona Court of Appeals allowed Thomas Beatie to dissolve his previous marriage with another woman (Beatie himself was born female). At the same time, the California Superior Court has decided that the marriage of Jake Miller or Buck Angel with Elayne Angel is valid.
Nancy, Thomas Beatie's new wife was unable to bear children. However, azcentral.com reported that Beatie still had female reproductive organs so he was artificially inseminated and became the world's first "pregnant man". As of now, Beatie has three children already but wants to marry another woman.
The court said in a ruling on Wednesday, "At the time of the Beaties' marriage in Hawaii, that state only allowed marriages between a man and a woman, and Hawaii's legislature, like Arizona's, had established statutory authority allowing persons who had undergone a sex change operation to apply for and obtain an amended birth certificate reflecting the appropriate gender."
Buck Angel, who was also born female, wanted to marry Elayne Angel. The California court ruled that recognized Buck who had gone through sex-change surgery as male and ruled the marriage as valid. Buck, however, updated his birth certificate only after the marriage. Elayne wanted to avoid paying Buck spousal support in the divorce and therefore argued that the marriage should not be recognized because Buck's birth certificate was updated only after they were married.
Buck expressed great happiness that his manhood was being "validated" and that he feels it was a hopeful event for the transgender community.
