A woman who was born male and became a bride launched a ground-breaking case in the high court yesterday to try to have the marriage recognised as legally valid. Mr Justice Johnson said he was "sympathetic" towards Elizabeth Bellinger, 54, who had lived with her husband Michael for 19 years.
Their plea was being challenged by the attorney general on the grounds that though the marriage ceremony occurred in front of a registrar, it was not lawful as Mrs Bellinger had never been female.
Under English law, a person registered male at birth remains male despite corrective surgery. The couple are challenging the law which allows marriage only between two people whose birth certificates show they are of opposite sex.
Ashley Bayston, representing Mrs Bellinger, described her client as "a male to female post-operative transsexual" who had always considered herself female. She had been "forced into marriage" with a woman and fathered children. She "broke free" and lived as a woman from 1971, beginning treatment at Charing Cross hospital, which led to surgery in 1981. She met her future husband in 1980, before surgery to remove her male genitals.
The couple married in 1981, without having to show their birth certificates, and Mrs Bellinger brought up her husband's daughter.
Ms Bayston said the question for the judge was whether Mrs Bellinger was a female in the eyes of the law and therefore able to marry a man. She asked the court to redefine what was meant by "man" and "woman" because the law was "outdated and unreliable".
Mr Justice Johnson spoke of those lumbered with maleness and with a terrible urge to be the opposite sex. "They are locked up in the wrong body. That seems such a terrible thing to endure...the law seems to be shutting its eyes."
The hearing, expected to last four days, continues today.
