WARREN Couple tries again for marriage license

The transsexual and his fianc & eacute;e filed a second marriage application last month.
By PEGGY SINKOVICH
VINDICATOR TRUMBULL STAFF
WARREN -- A lawyer representing a transsexual man and his fianc & eacute;e is hoping her clients will be granted a marriage license today.
Atty. Deborah Smith, one of the attorneys who represents Jacob B. Nash and Erin A. Barr of Howland, said the couple plans to show Trumbull County Probate Judge Thomas Swift at today's hearing that they have met all the requirements to receive a marriage license.
The couple is hoping the judge will make a decision at the end of the hearing. Judge Swift could not be reached to comment.
A transsexual is described in Webster's New World Dictionary as "a person who is predisposed to identify with the opposite sex, sometimes so strongly as to undergo surgery and hormone injections to effect a change of sex."
This will be the second hearing the couple has had in front of the judge. They had filed an application for marriage in August. That application was denied in September after a lengthy hearing. They filed a second application last month.
Smith said during the first hearing the couple gave the judge all the information they have about why they should be allowed to marry.
"I'm not sure what else will be addressed at the hearing, but we will state again that we have met all the requirements for a marriage license and believe one should be issued," Smith said.
Reason for first denial
The judge said he denied the first request because Nash failed to disclose on the original application of marriage that he previously had been married.
The couple stated during the September hearing that they forgot to mention Nash's previous marriage, under the name of Pamela Ann Nash.
That marriage ended in divorce May 6, 1998, court records show.
The judge said the couple's explanation that they forgot the previous marriage lacks credibility. The couple has appealed that ruling.
Smith has argued that the couple should be granted a marriage license because Nash has an amended birth certificate from Massachusetts that states he is a male.
Nash said he was born a female in 1964 and that he received the amended birth certificate about two years ago. Smith argued that state law says that to get a marriage certificate, one person must show proof of being male and the other must show proof of being female.
According to a pretrial report filed by Smith with the court, she plans to show evidence that both applicants are of legal age and physically and mentally competent and that Nash is no longer married.
sinkovich@vindy.com