Law confused by transgender bride's big day

Source: Agencies  |   2008-6-25  |     NEWSPAPER EDITION

AN American couple walked into a Norfolk courthouse on a spring day, exchanged a few words, and within 10 minutes, were seemingly husband and wife.

It was an unremarkable ceremony, except that several weeks later, officials realized the bride might not have been a woman.

Now authorities in Virginia, where same-sex marriages are illegal, are weighing whether to file misdemeanor charges against the couple, Antonio E. Blount, 31, and Justin L. McCain, 18. An announcement is expected this week.

A prosecutor says the decision to press charges could turn on whether the pair knowingly misled officials when they applied for a license and later traveled to a courthouse for a ceremony. If the bride was transgender, and identified as a woman, it is unclear whether the marriage would be considered illegal.

The pair went to Newport News Circuit Court on March 24 to obtain a marriage license with McCain appearing as a woman and saying the name "Justine" before a deputy, said Newport News Circuit Court clerk Rex Davis.

McCain produced a Virginia driver's license, but a design quirk meant nobody noticed McCain's gender, Davis said.

The same day, the couple traveled 30 kilometers south to Norfolk, where local marriage commissioner Al Coward performed the ceremony.

"They pawned themselves off as a man and a woman, and they did a very good job," he said.

Davis said officials became suspicious around May 12, when McCain applied for a name change. The new name, Penelopsky Aaryonna Goldberry, "raised a red flag," said Davis. Paperwork later revealed McCain's legal name of record was Justin, not Justine. Davis said vital statistics officials in McCain's home state of North Carolina later confirmed McCain was born male, though they would not provide actual records.

When McCain checked on the name change application last month, Davis said the teen confirmed the birth gender.

The couple has not commented publicly and The Associated Press was not able to locate either person. Davis said the marriage is considered illegal because both individuals are legally considered to be men.

Activists say the case highlights the difficulty in trying to fit transgender individuals into rigid legal definitions of what makes one male or female. Less than 1 percent of Americans is transgender.