TRUMBULL COUNTY Transsexual tries again for license

It is not known when the judge will rule on the motion.
By PEGGY SINKOVICH
VINDICATOR TRUMBULL STAFF
WARREN -- A transsexual man and the woman he wants to marry, are asking a Trumbull County judge to reconsider his decision to deny their request for a marriage license.
Atty. Deborah Smith, who represents Jacob B. Nash and Erin A. Barr of Howland, filed a 28-page brief Monday with Trumbull County Probate Court asking for reconsideration.
A transsexual is described in Webster's New World Dictionary as & quot;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. & quot;
Judge Thomas Swift was out of the office Monday and it is not known when a decision will be made.
Denied motion
Last month, Judge Swift denied the couple's motion for a marriage license because Nash failed to disclose on the original application of marriage that he had been previously married.
The couple stated during a Sept. 5 hearing they forgot to mention Nash's previous marriage under the name of Pamela Ann Nash. The judge said that explanation "lacks credibility."
Nash's first marriage ended in divorce May 6, 1998, court records state.
Smith's brief states that at the beginning of the Sept. 5 hearing, she asked the court for permission to file an application for a marriage license and the judge granted the motion. The amended application states Nash was previously married.
"Therefore, the court had full and complete information as to the matters and facts required to be disclosed for a marriage license prior to the deliberations," the brief states. "The applicants respectfully submit that Judge Swift has forgotten he granted counsel's motion ..."
Amended birth certificate
The brief also says a license should be granted because Nash has an amended birth certificate from Massachusetts that states he is a male.
Nash said that he was born a female in 1964 and that he received the amended birth certificate about two years ago.
He also said he had several surgeries, but he will not specify what type.
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.
Barr testified during the four-hour hearing that she was born a female in West Virginia. She said her state-issued birth certificate does not state her gender.
Barr and Nash have said they hope to have a family some day.
They filed an application for marriage Aug. 2 in Trumbull County Probate Court.
sinkovich@vindy.com