UK To Grant GL Couples Adoption Rights
by Jon ben Asher
365Gay.com Newscenter in London

January 24, 2002

London: The Blair government has moved another step closer to recognizing gay and lesbian relationships.

One day after a leak that the government will allow the transgendered to marry,  Downing Street has signalled it will not oppose a motion to let gay and lesbian couples adopt.

Singles, including gays and lesbians, are already allowed to adopt children, but only as individuals.  A group of MPs from all three parties is proposing an amendment to the new adoption act to allow couples to become parents.

If passed, the act could be the prequel to legislation recognizing gay unions.  Supporters say Partnership Union legislation could be necessary to set the ground rules on what constitutes a "couple" for the purposes of adoption.

Potential parents will have to be aged 21 and over, be able to show they have a long-term commitment and are living in a stable relationship.

The amendment to allow adoption already has the support of 130 MPs.

http://365gay.com/newscontent/012302UKtg.htm

UK Transgendered To Win Marriage Rights
by Jon ben Asher
365Gay.com Newscenter in London

(January 23, London) Britain's transgendered will be given the right to marry.  The Blair government is said to be preparing legislation to bring into the Commons in this session.

Word of the decision was leaked a day after Britain's Law Lords decided to hear the case of a transgendered woman whose marriage was annulled when it was learned she had not been born a woman.

Thousands of people in Britain who have changed sex are unable to wed because they cannot have their new gender marked on their birth certificates. 

Under the plans, said to be under consideration by Lord Chancellor Lord Irvine, are new birth certificates that state the holder's proper sex.

Only Britain, Ireland, Albania and Andorra fail to give transsexuals full legal rights in Europe.  Advocates for the transgendered hailed the word saying the legislation will end more than 50 years of discrimination.

http://365gay.com/newscontent/012202LordsMarriage.htm

Lords To Decide TG Marriage Case
by Jon ben Asher
365Gay.com Newscenter in London

January 22, 2002

London:  The case of a woman whose marriage was voided when it was learned she is transgendered will be heard by the Law Lords, the highest court in the UK.

Last July the Appeal Court rejected an application by Elizabeth Bellinger, 54, and her husband Michael to have their marriage legalized.

Because she was born male, the British legal system refuses to recognize her as a woman, and her marriage was ruled null and void.

Bellinger, who has undergone total sex-change surgery married her husband in 1981.

In court last year, the UK's top woman judge, Dame Elizabeth Butler-Sloss said there were two questions in the case: "What was the status of Mrs Bellinger, and at what point should a person who had undergone a sex-change be treated as being of the opposite sex."

The decision by the Law Lords will have a lasting impact on the estimated 2,000 transsexuals in the UK.

If the Bellingers win, and their marriage is recognized, it will pave the way for other transgendered women in Britain to wed.

But, if they lose, it would block future advances in TG rights in the UK.

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