US: Transgender father Thomas Beatie to challenge divorce ruling

A transgender man whose divorce request was rejected by an Arizona judge says he will continue with his legal fight.

Last Friday, Maricopa County Family Court Judge Douglas Gerlach ruled that Arizona’s ban on equal marriage prevents Thomas Beatie’s nine-year marriage from being recognised as valid.

Judge Gerlach said he had no jurisdiction to approve a divorce because there was insufficient evidence that Mr Beatie was a man when he married Nancy Beatie in Hawaii.

In 2008, Mr Beatie, who had lived as a man for decades, gave birth to a girl, the first of three pregnancies.

He is legally male but kept his female reproductive organs and bore children because his wife was infertile.

The Associated Press reports David Cantor, the attorney for Mr Beatie confirmed on Tuesday that he plans to appeal Judge Gerlach’s ruling.

He said Mr Beatie will decide on Friday whether to appeal to the State Court of Appeals or the State Supreme Court.

“Imagine what this is doing to my children,” Mr Beatie said. “In time, they are going to look back and see that a court said that’s not your daddy. I’m sorry, that’s who I am. I am my children’s father.”

Mr Beatie and his estranged wife are the legal parents of children ages 4, 3 and 2-years-old.

Nancy Beatie’s attorney, David Higgins, said she would likely join the fight against the judge’s ruling.

• Nov 29 2023

56 celebrities you didn’t know are gay, bisexual or lesbian