Thursday, February 19, 2004
Which sex could a hermaphrodite marry?
H. J. RES. 56 reads as follows:
- SECTION 1. Marriage in the United States shall consist only of the union of a man and a woman. Neither this Constitution or the constitution of any State, nor state or federal law, shall be construed to require that marital status or the legal incidents thereof be conferred upon unmarried couples or groups
A problem has already manifested itself in Kansas: the proposed constitutional amendment doesn't define "man" or "woman", which means a person is the sex indicated on one's birth certificate - which changes if it's holder undergoes a sex-change operation.
There is no way to define male and female which would please those who are disturbed at the thought of same sexed couples getting married. Is sex fixed at birth - so that if a member of an opposite sexed marriage gets a sex change, the marriage is still valid? Or would a male to female transgendered person only be allowed to marry a female? Regardless of whether one defines sex as being fixed at birth or mutable, one is going to end up with marriages between persons who identify as and appear to be the same sex. And which sex, if any, can a hermaphrodite marry? Leave it to the Reich Wingers to come up with such a conundrum ...
// posted by Erik @ 2/19/2004 09:24:00 PM
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