Trans Widows Aren’t Trapped in Loveless Marriages
Love is not possible when a spouse controls the life and body of their partner
Earlier today, British conservative publication The Telegraph highlighted the next group in the anti-trans media carousel: trans widows. The article claimed that passing Gender Recognition Act reform in the country would “trap” spouses of trans people in “loveless marriages.”
Some context is needed here. Currently, trans people in the U.K. can medically transition and even change their name without their spouse’s permission. But in order for a married trans person to change their legal sex on their birth certificate, they must get express written consent from their spouse.
It’s an archaic holdover from the days before marriage equality, when a gender transition meant a legally required divorce or annulment, even if the married couple wanted to stay together. In that era, it would make some sense that both partners would need to consent to a big fundamental life change like that. But even then, the spousal consent rule has frequently been used as an abuse tool to discourage trans people from coming out publicly or even begin pursuing a transition in the first place.
The provision places a cisgender partner in a legally controlling position over their trans…
