Transgender Woman Needs Your Support In Texas

[Stearns]

What happened at the court hearing that Nikki says she was pleased about? Anybody have an update?

[SuperFemme]

something has been itching at my brain.

i wonder? does the new federal hate crime legislation that covers transgender as a protected class play into what these people, the town and the media is doing to this woman?

[Soon]

Originally Posted by SuperFemme

something has been itching at my brain.

i wonder? does the new federal hate crime legislation that covers transgender as a protected class play into what these people, the town and the media is doing to this woman?

From what I understand, this new legislation covers only violence-based crimes that are committed against people due to their sexual orientation and/or gender identity.

So, if no physical violence has been committed, then I don't think this case (and community, media etc.) would fall under this Act.

[SuperFemme]

Originally Posted by HowSoonIsNow

From what I understand, this new legislation covers only violence-based crimes that are committed against people due to their sexual orientation and/or gender identity.

So, if no physical violence has been committed, then I don't think this case (and community, media etc.) would fall under this Act.

That sucks.
I consider what they are doing to this woman beyond violent, but I suppose the legal definition won't agree with me. boo.

[Melissa]

Originally Posted by Stearns

What happened at the court hearing that Nikki says she was pleased about? Anybody have an update?

All I've picked up so far is that Nikki is fine with the 50/50 split of the death benefits between herself and the two children and that she had promised her husband she would take care of them if anything happened to her.

I found out there was no will. This is all from online news sources and so how true any of this is is anyone's guess. From what I have been reading, when there is no will, Texas will divide an estate between the spouse and children. 50% goes to the spouse and the other 50% is divided among the children. So even if Nikki's marriage wasn't contested by the in laws, the 50/50 division of the death benefits would have happened at probate anyway.

This also goes for joint owned property and bank accounts. Insurance with a named beneficiary does not count and if there was a will then the property would be divided according to the will. The judge has frozen everything (but technically, as far as I can figure out, if Nikki was named beneficiary of a life insurance policy it should not have been frozen). Also, as far as I know, bank accounts are not covered by a will. You have to name a beneficiary on the account and through your bank. So I'm not sure why her bank accounts were frozen unless there was no named beneficiary on the accounts.

The inlaws are going after everything claiming the marriage is not valid. They are not content with the 50% but want the lot. On the upside for couples, if there is a will then this could ward off what is happening to Nikki because contract law will take over. We also read somewhere, and this is for couples, that it is good to have a witnessed letter in your documents stating that the husband or wife is fuly aware her/his partner is transgendered/transexual. You have to have two witnesses to this letter. I would also suggest having a lawyer draw up the letter. This can help if, again, family comes along and argues the deceased spouse did not know and was defrauded.

As usual, gay, lesbian, trans people and partners have to have all kinds of documents to protect the relationship. And we have to think of any possible eventualities that might happen and try to ward them off in case they do.

From what I've learned, a will is your best protection. I've also learned about something called right of surviorship when it comes to property. If both names are on a property make sure you set it up as right of survivorship this way, when one of you passes away, the other automatically gets the property and the property does not have to go through probate.

Melissa

[atomiczombie]

I have donated $50.00 to her legal defense fund and so have my parents. I am proud of my folks for doing this. I am praying for Nikki.

[Stearns]

Originally Posted by Melissa

All I've picked up so far is that Nikki is fine with the 50/50 split of the death benefits between herself and the two children and that she had promised her husband she would take care of them if anything happened to her.

I found out there was no will. This is all from online news sources and so how true any of this is is anyone's guess. From what I have been reading, when there is no will, Texas will divide an estate between the spouse and children. 50% goes to the spouse and the other 50% is divided among the children. So even if Nikki's marriage wasn't contested by the in laws, the 50/50 division of the death benefits would have happened at probate anyway.

This also goes for joint owned property and bank accounts. Insurance with a named beneficiary does not count and if there was a will then the property would be divided according to the will. The judge has frozen everything (but technically, as far as I can figure out, if Nikki was named beneficiary of a life insurance policy it should not have been frozen). Also, as far as I know, bank accounts are not covered by a will. You have to name a beneficiary on the account and through your bank. So I'm not sure why her bank accounts were frozen unless there was no named beneficiary on the accounts.

The inlaws are going after everything claiming the marriage is not valid. They are not content with the 50% but want the lot. On the upside for couples, if there is a will then this could ward off what is happening to Nikki because contract law will take over. We also read somewhere, and this is for couples, that it is good to have a witnessed letter in your documents stating that the husband or wife is fuly aware her/his partner is transgendered/transexual. You have to have two witnesses to this letter. I would also suggest having a lawyer draw up the letter. This can help if, again, family comes along and argues the deceased spouse did not know and was defrauded.

As usual, gay, lesbian, trans people and partners have to have all kinds of documents to protect the relationship. And we have to think of any possible eventualities that might happen and try to ward them off in case they do.

From what I've learned, a will is your best protection. I've also learned about something called right of surviorship when it comes to property. If both names are on a property make sure you set it up as right of survivorship this way, when one of you passes away, the other automatically gets the property and the property does not have to go through probate.

Melissa

Great research and advice, Melissa. Thank you.

[Dylan]

Here is another article that talks about the fact that Longoria (Nikki's former mother in law) names HERSELF (NOT 'the precious children' as she's claiming now) as heirs to Thomas' benefits and (now) 1/2 of the estate.

It also states that Nikki was named sole beneficiary of the life insurance policy.

Originally Posted by Dallas Voice

Widow Braves Hostile Court Proceedings

Houston, Texas – July 23, 2010 – Jeers and public threats greeted Mrs. Nikki Araguz outside the Warton County Courthouse today. The Widow of Wharton County firefighter Captain Thomas Araguz, who was killed in the line of duty, was in court for the first hearing in a suit brought by Araguz’s mother, Simona Rodriguez Longoria. The suit claims that Longoria should inherit Capt. Araguz’s widow’s benefits and all marital assets.

Longoria claims that since Mrs. Araguz was legally a male before transitioning to female, and legally changed her gender prior to her subsequent marriage to Capt. Araguz that Longoria, not Mrs. Araguz, should receive all benefits and joint property. This includes any income earned by Mrs. Araguz during the marriage. Mrs. Araguz was the principle wage earner of the couple.

Capt. Araguz’s two children from a previous marriage will receive one half of Capt. Araguz’s $600,000 firemen’s fallen hero benefit regardless of the outcome of this case. They are also entitled to free tuition at Texas State Schools, as will be their children.

Longoria today expanded her claims to the property of Mrs. Araguz, asking the court to seize funds paid by a life insurance policy to which Mrs. Araguz was the named beneficiary. Judge Clapp granted her request, adding those funds to the widow’s benefits and all marital assets currently being held in escrow.

In a victory for Mrs. Araguz, the Judge also prevented Longoria from spending any of those funds or disposing of Capt. and Mrs. Araguz’s marital assets.

Longoria said in court today that her goal was to “freeze Nikki out.” All of Mrs. Araguz’s assets are currently frozen and unavailable to her.

If you would like to help support Nikki in her hour of desperate need, donate to the TG Center Nikki Araguz Fund. The TG Center Nikki Araguz Fund not only supports Nikki’s ongoing legal battle, it also provides for her day-to-day needs.

Link


Oh, it also tells why she was happy about the court hearing on Friday.




Dylan

[Dylan]

Insight by Lisa Harney about this case. The comments are worth reading also.

Click Here


Dylan

[Liam]

Originally Posted by Dylan

Insight by Lisa Harney about this case. The comments are worth reading also.

Click Here


Dylan

Thank you Dylan, for sharing Lisa Harney's piece, I particularly liked the part I bolded.

So, if we’re going to ever have a useful conversation about disclosure? It has to start there. It can’t be a debate about when or if trans people should tell cis people that they’re trans. It can’t focus on the needs and problems of trans people with reliable passing privilege (or who are assumed to have that passing privilege). It can’t even be about disclosure because disclosure is not the problem. It has to be about the fact that transphobia is a systematic, institutionalized force, and its primary purpose is to deny us the right to exist.

[firie]

Dylan and I are going to call a few groups tomorrow and one of our club owning friends and see if we can get a benefit together (he's always up for doing something at the queer bar), so maybe we can get some local talent together and try to raise awareness and maybe some money for Nikki's legal defense.

If local folks are interested in brainstorming, we'd like to do a fundraiser or something, and try to throw some Austin support Nikki's way. If anyone from the Austin area is interested, let us know.

[EnderD_503]

Originally Posted by Dylan

Insight by Lisa Harney about this case. The comments are worth reading also.

Click Here


Dylan

Is there any chance that something like this could be published in a mainstream newspaper or magazine down there (has anyone tried in this case, thus far?)? Great comments, but I often get the feeling that articles like this are preaching to the choir, since it's highly unlikely that anyone not involved in the LGBT community is going to read sites like questioningtransphobia.com. If articles like this could somehow get out there into the Texan mainstream, even to some degree, I think that would be a great step forward in raising awareness in the average person.

[Dylan]

Here's the press conference after the hearing on Friday





Also, I was reading somewhere yesterday that some people think this is just some Texas, backwoods, hillbilly law. Be sure there are other states that have said exactly the same thing (for the purposes of marriage, transpeople are their birth sex...period). Texas judges made their decision based on other states' case laws (at the time of hearing Littleton). New York has Anonymous vs Anonymous (transsexual marriages are not recognized. I don't know if this case has been overturned yet). Ohio has the Ladrach case (a person's sex is determined at birth by an anatomical examination).

Idaho is (or maybe has entered legislation, at this point in time) attempting to add legislation that would state marriage can only be between a "natural born man and a natural born woman" (they already have a marriage is between a man and a woman statute).

There's only one state (New Jersey) which has a case in which a trans marriage has been considered valid (M.T. v. J.T.)

One problem with the Littleton case is that it relies heavily on chromosomes (it actually makes the assumption that transpeople's chromosomes are cis-related) when A) NO ONE gets chromosome testing at birth unless there's some sort of issue (usually, no one gets chromosome tested in a lifetime), B) there's more than just XX, XY chromosome patterns, C) chromosome testing has been ruled unreliable. The law doesn't leave room for those people whose chromosomes are outside xy or xx. It also makes the assumption that penis=xy and vagina=xx, when science, doctors, and lay people KNOW this is just NOT necessarily the case.

So, basically, there is the assumption that anatomy = chromosomes. Basically, Littleton is saying doctors determine sex with nothing more than a cursory glance at one's anatomy and somehow this is 'chromosomal'. And since, "God doesn't make mistakes" (the first judge to hear Littleton actually said this)...doctors are God and their word is final (based on nothing scientific...only a cursory glance at genitals. And what if those genitals are ambiguous? Sex is up to the discretion of the doctor.)

On another note, since only four states have ANY laws discussing transpeople's marriages, IF this issue comes up in one of the other 46 states (and it will), those judges are going to have to also work off case law from different states. This means, Littleton, Anonymous v Anonymous, and Ladrach are going to probably be the cases most (uneducated about trans-issues/or transphobic) judges are going to follow (to justify their own bigotry).

Ergo, this issue affects transpeople everywhere.

On top of that, and as I've already stated numerous times, these 'marriage' cases lead to other forms of oppression against transpeople. For example, Ohio (home of the Ladrach case) will NOT change the sex marker on your birth certificate. They just won't do it. This means, a transperson can never have a correct birth certificate if they were born in Ohio (there are other states which will not change the marker on your b.c. Idaho, South Carolina, and Tennessee). Gender markers on driver licenses cannot be changed. Gender markers on government issued identification are incredibly important, and trickle down to affect employment, housing, etc of transpeople. And since 9/11 government issued IDs are even more important. Transpeople have been/are being/ can be labeled as terrorists. And they're definitely being harassed at airports. Merely changing your name puts you in a computer for scrutiny at airports for two years after your name change.

Sorry for the ramble, but this really affects so much more than just Texans and marriage.


Dylan

[DMW]

Originally Posted by Melissa

This also goes for joint owned property and bank accounts. Insurance with a named beneficiary does not count and if there was a will then the property would be divided according to the will. The judge has frozen everything (but technically, as far as I can figure out, if Nikki was named beneficiary of a life insurance policy it should not have been frozen). Also, as far as I know, bank accounts are not covered by a will. You have to name a beneficiary on the account and through your bank. So I'm not sure why her bank accounts were frozen unless there was no named beneficiary on the accounts.

The inlaws are going after everything claiming the marriage is not valid. They are not content with the 50% but want the lot. On the upside for couples, if there is a will then this could ward off what is happening to Nikki because contract law will take over. We also read somewhere, and this is for couples, that it is good to have a witnessed letter in your documents stating that the husband or wife is fuly aware her/his partner is transgendered/transexual. You have to have two witnesses to this letter. I would also suggest having a lawyer draw up the letter. This can help if, again, family comes along and argues the deceased spouse did not know and was defrauded.

As usual, gay, lesbian, trans people and partners have to have all kinds of documents to protect the relationship. And we have to think of any possible eventualities that might happen and try to ward them off in case they do.

From what I've learned, a will is your best protection. I've also learned about something called right of surviorship when it comes to property. If both names are on a property make sure you set it up as right of survivorship this way, when one of you passes away, the other automatically gets the property and the property does not have to go through probate.

Melissa

I don't know how i could go on and not find out about the ending to this.
Maybe i did and moved on. Never got to spend the time to read up more on it. I do remember seeing Kristen on youtube and following her updates.
Wills really are the best thing to have to protect all property assets.
Always include 2 beneficiaries. That is what i have learned.
Another important factor is to have a witness(not just primary or secondary beneficiary) or two at the signing. And yes, a Will doesn't control a bank account. A separate contract has to be drawn up at the bank.

So tragic what people have to go through just to live.
I wanna thank everyone who voiced their opinions and support etc.