Posted on 03/28/2007 9:20:43 AM PDT by Between the Lines
Lawrence Roach agreed to pay alimony to the woman he divorced, not the man she became after a sex change, his lawyers argued in an effort to end the payments.
But the ex-wife's attorneys argued Tuesday that the operation doesn't alter the agreement.
Less than a week after commissioners in nearby Largo drew national attention by firing the city manager after he announced he was a transsexual, lawyers for Roach and his ex-wife grappled in another transsexual rights case that delves into relatively uncharted legal territory.
Only a 2004 Ohio case has addressed whether or not a transsexual can still collect alimony after a sex change, those involved say.
"There is not a lot out there to help us," Circuit Judge Jack R. St. Arnold said.
Roach and his wife, Julia, divorced in 2004 after 18 years of marriage. The 48-year-old utility worker agreed to pay her $1,250 a month in alimony. Since then, Julia Roach, 55, had a sex change and legally changed her name to Julio Roberto Silverwolf.
"It's illegal for a man to marry a man and it should likewise be illegal for a man to pay alimony to a man," said John McGuire, one of Roach's attorneys. "When she changed to man, I believe she terminated that alimony."
Silverwolf did not appear in court Tuesday and has declined to talk about the divorce. His lawyer, Gregory Nevins, said the language of the divorce decree is clear and firm - Roach agreed to pay alimony until his ex-wife dies or remarries.
"Those two things haven't happened," said Nevins, a senior staff attorney with the national gay rights group Lambda Legal.
Arnold found fault with several of Roach's legal arguments and noted that appeals courts have declined to legally recognize a sex change in Florida when it comes to marriage. The appellate court "is telling us you are what you are when you are born," Arnold said.
An Ohio appeals court ruled in September 2004 that a Montgomery County man must continue to pay alimony to his transsexual ex-wife because her sex change wasn't reason enough to violate the agreement.
Roach, who has since remarried, said he has been unable to convince state and federal lawmakers to tackle the issue. He said he will continue to fight.
The case is the second transsexual rights showdown in Pinellas County in less than a week. On Friday, city commissioners voted 5-2 to fire Largo's city manager, Steve Stanton, after he announced he was a transsexual.
Later read/pingout.
Either his alimony is a wee tad high or his lawyer is a dumbass.
It's a turn of phrase, dang it. Just a turn of phrase.
The article seems to indicate that the transexual had a job as a city manager. If that's the case, why would alimony be needed in the first place?
Jerk.
Why did you marry her?
Oh yes it does. It is limited but it's still there.
Thanks Honey I knew it would take a while for someone to get that ,It took 25 posts. They are slow today LMAO.
Well Barb you cant get to be a man just because of an attachment. Whether it is a finger made to look like a penis or a artifcial one.
You cannot mutilate a man and make him a woman either.
I feel that if a man and woman both work there should be no alimony. However if the woman was a stay at home Mom then alimony should be allowed so she can continue to stay at home until the kids are raised. However if this woman is man enough to have a penis attached she is man enough to make her own living.
While that might be ideal for the kids, no kid has a right to a stay-at-home-parent.
A divorce results in the creation of an additional household and changes the finances of the entire family drastically. I think placing the entire financial burden on one spouse is unfair.
If he agreed to her being a stay at home Mom , he took on that responsibility. He should comtinue it till the kids are old enough to not need a stay at home Mom.
Also most stay at home Moms dont ask for a Divorce unless they catch the old man sneaking around.
IMO most divorces come from women who are working and looking over the available options. These women should not get alimony.
It's not an irrevocable decision! He "took on that responsibility" when the responsibility didn't involve financing two households.
Moms go back to work all the time when family finances require it. My point is that a divorce may change the family finances to the extent that mom needs to go back to work. Not a big deal - people go back to work all the time.
Pinellas County weirdness ping.
I understand that it's possible to remove some things. But how the heck to they add things? And where do these things come from!!!???
It's impossible. Sick self mutilation.
I already understand that. Just like the fact that the guy who is being "changed" into a leopard is still human.
Too many people decide that God is wrong. Sad.
Never mind that! I want to know what Denny Crane thinks of this case!
Why did you marry her?
Like most women when they get their trophies (children) to chain you down financially they quit giving it out. They have more excuses than oil speculators.
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