Episcopal Church backs some LGBT rights at convention
Adapted from reporting by Harry Langhorne
There were six pro-LGBT resolutions approved at the 65th triennial convention of the Episcopal Church in Minneapolis.
Among the resolutions, the church leaders affirmed:
- LGBT people are equal in the eyes of God.
- LGBT people deserve protection from the government like all other citizens.
- The church’s study of human sexuality should include LGBT sexuality.
A homophobic resolution to ban LGBT people from ordination was rejected.
Trans woman from New Jersey granted alimony
Adapted from reporting by Harry Langhorne
The Supreme Court of New Jersey upheld a lower-court ruling to grant a transgender woman alimony from her husband.
The woman, referred to as M.T., had identified as female most of her life, yet her husband claimed that, since she was born biologically male, the marriage was null. He refused to support her, despite having previously known that she was transgender. He even paid for her sex-reassignment surgery, according to court records.
The Superior Court of New Jersey initially ordered the man to pay alimony in March 1976, a decision upheld by the state’s top court that fall. Pundits predicted that the ruling set a precedent that indicated the validity of trans identity.