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Polare 64 >> Article 7
Stephen Whittle Married At Last!
by the Manchester Evening
News
A man who changed sex after being born a woman has won his final
battle against discrimination by marrying his long-term partner.
For many years marriage seemed an impossible dream for Dr Stephen
Whittle OBE and his partner Sarah Rutherford, 45.
Stephen, 50, is a female-to-male transsexual who was born female and
has had surgery to become a man.
Now, after years of campaigning, the law has been changed for
transgender people, allowing Stephen to be recognised as a man and
paving the way for marriage.
He said: "We both thought it would be the one thing they wouldn't
change. We thought we would get recognition but being able to marry
seemed impossible you never, ever thought about it as even holding down
a job down seemed
impossible at times."
Stephen said that as well as being one of the happiest days of his
life, his marriage to Sarah may also be the first transsexual wedding
in the country.
Family
He added: "Getting married wasn't about politics, it was about family,
but without the politics it would never have happened. There was a
moment of truth when we finally got our marriage certificate - I held it up and
everybody cheered, it was terrific," he said.
Stephen, of Mauldeth Road, Heaton Mersey, Stockport, helped to form
the Manchester TV/TS Group and launched the Press For Change campaign
for equal rights. "I remember thinking quite early on that I never did
anything to hurt
anybody else but I was being treated like a criminal and there were a
lot of people in the same situation."
In 2002, after 10 years of campaigning, the European Courts ruled that
transsexuals had the right to privacy and could be registered under
their new persona.
That meant people like Stephen could get a new birth certificate
which, in turn, opened the door to marriage and a new life.
Now the couple, who have been together for twenty-six years and have
four children - all conceived by sperm donor - were able to prove
their love on Saturday when they married at Heaton Mersey Methodist Church.
"It was wonderful and it's hard to say how good we felt," said Stephen
"We could feel the wave of happiness and positive thought behind us
and it was quite overwhelming."
Copyright 2005 Manchester Evening News
All transgenders of our time owe a debt of gratitude to Stephen
Whittle and to his colleagues in Press For Change. This is
particularly true for those of us who have British birth certificates and have been able to take
advantage of the Gender Recognition Program. Congratulations, Stephen
and may your formal marriage be as happy as your informal one has been and last many times
longer.
And On The Flip Side, Someone Who is All man and a Bit Weird. Pity
Poor Mpumi...
A devout Christian today lost his High Court battle against new laws
which allow people who undergo sex change operations also to change
the gender registered on their birth certificates. John Allman, a member of the
Elim Pentecostal church, claimed the Gender Recognition Act was a
threat to people for whom it would be a mortal sin to marry and make love to someone of the
same birth sex.
The Act, which came into force in April, took away an important
safeguard against unknowingly committing a sin, his counsel Dr Michael
Arnheim told a judge. Dr Arnheim said the new law was designed "to hoodwink people" as it
meant they could no longer check a prospective marriage partner's
sexual orientation at birth. He said: "Sex before marriage is anathema for religiously
devout people, such as Christians, Jews or Muslims. "Finding out the
truth after marriage and sexual union would be too late."
But Mr Justice Sullivan, sitting in London, rejected the challenge by
Mr Allman. The judge said: "The claimant contends the Act violates his
rights under the European Convention on Human Rights because he is a committed
Christian male in mortal fear of having a sexual relationship with
someone who is biologically male by birth."
But there was no arguable infringement with his right to a private and
family life under Article 8 of the convention, freedom of religion
under Article 9 and freedom to receive information under Article 10.
Later Mr Allman, who was ordered to pay £1,444 legal costs for
bringing his failed challenge, said outside court he had in fact been
married for three years and there was no real prospect of him personally marrying a
transgender person.
He said he had brought his legal challenge to alert others to the fact
that the Gender Recognition Act was now in force and that it posed a
danger for the devout of many faiths.
He added: "I am married, though they didn't go into the facts in
court.
"As a matter of fact I checked my wife Mpumi's passport within a week
of meeting her because I had become aware that this was a problem."
"She now knows about that and thinks it was the right thing to do."
Johhn Aston, PA
Polare is published in Australia by The Gender Centre
Inc. which is funded by the Department of Community Services under the
S.A.A.P. Program and supported by the
N.S.W. Health Department through the
AIDS and Infectious Diseases Branch. Polare provides a
forum for discussion and debate on gender issues. Advertisers are advised that all advertising is their responsibility under
the Trade Practices Act. Unsolicited contributions are welcome, though no guarantee is made by the Editor that they will be
published, nor any discussion entered into. The editor reserves the right to edit such contributions without notification.
Any submission which appears in Polare may be published on our internet site. Opinions expressed in this publication do not
necessarily reflect those of the Editor, The Gender Centre Inc.I, the
Department of Community Services or the N.S.W. Department of Health.
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