Very few states in the country recognize same sex marriage. Arizona is not one of them. Thomas Beatie, the so called “pregnant man” discovered this in March, 2013 when he attempted to obtain a dissolution of his marriage in an Arizona court.
Thomas had been born a woman, but Thomas never felt quite right as a woman. So Thomas took steps to become a man. He took hormones and had a mastectomy. A Hawaii resident at the time, Thomas legally changed his name. And he legally changed his Hawaii birth certificate to indicate he was in fact a male. Under Hawaii state law, he was legally recognized as a male.
He was able to apply for and obtain a marriage license. And he became legally married in the state of Hawaii. To a woman. Thomas and his wife wanted to have children, but Thomas’s wife struggled with infertility. Although Thomas had undergone hormone treatments and some surgeries, internally he still retained his female reproductive organs. When it was determined his wife could not conceive, Thomas was artificially inseminated and became pregnant. He was ultimately able to carry 3 children to term.
The parties and their children eventually moved from Hawaii to Arizona. Theirs was not a story with a happy ending. Marital problems ensued and the parties filed for divorce. The Arizona Superior court refused to grant a divorce. The Judge presiding over the matter refused to recognize the Beaties’ marriage, indicating it was not a legal marriage because it was between two women, as evidenced by the fact that Thomas had given birth. Since Arizona does not recognize same sex marriages, the judge would not recognize the marriage and ultimately would not grant a divorce.
The Appellate Court reversed the lower court’s ruling indicating that it was not a matter of whether Arizona allows same-sex marriage or divorce, “but whether the laws of the State of Arizona allow a marriage, lawfully entered into in another state, between two persons the foreign state formally recognized at the time of the marriage as male and female, to be dissolved …” In other words, the the marriage was legally recognized in Hawaii as being between a man and a woman, and would be recognized as such in Arizona. It was not for Arizona to determine whether Thomas was a man or a woman–that had already been determined. The marriage was legally binding in Hawaii as between a man and a woman. As such, Arizona was required to recognize the marriage, and dissolve the marriage if the parties desired to have the marriage dissolved.
This opinion does not change Arizona marriage law. Arizona still only recognizes marriages between one man and one woman. I believe the opinion does, however, reflect the national trend toward accepting same-gender marriage.
Copyright © 2014 by Scoresby Family Law – J. Kyle Scoresby, P.C. All rights reserved.