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Judge to Hear Evidence in Fallen Texas Captain’s Benefits Trial
Houston Chronicle
Reprinted with Permission
WHARTON — A judge today agreed to temporarily bar the allegedly transgendered widow of a Wharton firefighter from spending or collecting his death benefits.
Related
Debate Begins over Texas Fire Captain’s Benefits
State District Judge Randy Clapp ruled this afternoon after hearing from Nikki Araguz that she received a check for $60,000 Thursday, about a tenth of the total cash expected because of Thomas Araguz's July 4 death in an egg farm inferno. Thomas Araguz's parents have filed a lawsuit alleging that the marriage is void because Nikki Araguz was born a man.
Clapp also heard from a Houston Police Department family liaison who said the family can expect about $600,000 in cash, which would be split in half between Nikki Aruguz and her late husband's two sons from a prior marriage. The family can expect other benefits as well.
Clapp also heard testimony from Simone Longoria, Thomas Araguz's mother, who brought the lawsuit days after her son's funeral to "shut Nikki out."
Clapp ordered that Thomas Araguz's gun and his captain's badge be held in trust during the litigation.
Nikki Araguz on Thursday said any allegations that she misled her late husband about her past are false.
Today's hearing is the first step in litigation to determine whether the two were legally married.
In court, Nikki Araguz's birth certificate and an affidavit in which she changed her name were admitted into evidence.
The law that generally determines gender in Texas is a 1991 court case, which held that three factors - a person's gonads, genitalia and chromosomes - determine gender at birth.
Clapp met with attorneys on both sides privately during lunch. He is expected to reconvene at 1:15.
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by charles morse on
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THIS IS BULL IT SHOULDN'T MATTER SOME PEOPLE SHOULD MING THERE OWN BUSINES
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Permalink Reply by walt on
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Judge Clapp told Simone Longoria (to hold her horses) today, he also told Nikki Araguz(to hold where the hose use to be). This was reported form a local news station from Houston. Thats the reason you always check the goods before you buy. This will end up being a movie on LifeTime network.
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Permalink Reply by Caroline on
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This case is absolutely disgusting. How dare they do this to a woman who just lost her husband. I am appalled at the sh*t people make about gender. Love is love. Marriage is marriage. This is just disgusting.
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Permalink Reply by John Crabbe on
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SOME PEOPLE SHOULD MING THERE OWN BUSINES
By Minging their own business, are you referring to the creation of a dynasty selling products from China?
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Your intolerance is as ridiculous as the news station's Walt. So is the state of Texas'. The idea that gender is determined by your genitalia is ridiculous. Sex is determined by genitalia, gender is on a whole other spectrum. Gender is created by society; i.e. blue is for boys, pink is for girls. "checking the goods before you buy" insinuates that Thomas did not know that Nikki was born as a male. That's possible, but highly unlikely. Regardless of whether he did or not, is it right to deny her something because she did not share with him a piece of her? How does that change the love that they shared, whether or not he knew she was male? Would he not love her, the things about her, even if she was male?
I take great offense to this case as well as your comment because I am fully involved in the trans community. The love of my life is transgendered, we have 7 trans friends, and we are generally very accepting people. That means my boyfriend was born female, and he has transitioned into a male.
He has a functional penis, a legal name change, his breasts were removed and he takes testosterone to keep his hormones in balance. He is now not only, the male gender, but his sex is male as well. While I understand many people who are against gay marriage, gays and lesbians, transgendered people are on a whole different page. Being transgendered is about being born into the wrong body, not about who you love. It's listed as a psychiatric condition by the APA.
Perhaps I'm so sensitive to this, because my boyfriend is still viewed as, "the guy that used to be a girl" or because transgendered people have a 1/5 chance of being murdered, as opposed to someone who is not transgendered, who has a 1/100,000 chance of being murdered. Statistically speaking, one of my friends should have been murdered by now. The assault levels for gender-bending and transgendered individuals are ridiculous.
My boyfriend has been assaulted for being who he really is; a man. He was slashed with a knife and needed his wounds stapled closed and skin grafts to ensure his recovery.
Perhaps I've over-shared, and you feel as if it's unnecessary for me to tell you about my personal life. But I believe the first step in getting people to accept differences, is showing them the importance of them. Perhaps you can relate to someone speaking to you directly, saying, "This is real, and it's not a joke. This means something to me." rather than article aimed at the general public, you can feel the hurt I've felt. You can understand how painful (physically and otherwise) it is to be in the wrong body. Maybe you can be forgiving of this woman's loss and outraged by the states reaction.
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Permalink Reply by Oldman on
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Unfortunately, all civil lawsuits are about money, otherwise this would have been brought up long before his death. It wasn't because there was no money. But, Texas law is fairly explicit concerning gender, and does not allow same sex marriages.
If one has a Ford, but takes tools, sheet metal, and Bondo to make it look like a Chevy, it is still a Ford. In this case, the body work was done, but there is still the "X" chromosome.
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So while we legally can't do anything for this poor woman, we should be raising hell to ensure this doesn't happen to more widows..
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Permalink Reply by Eric C on
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It is unreal that death benefits are being with held because how someone identifies with gender. It is no ones business but her and her husbands. Who cares about the chromosome.
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Permalink Reply by Jack/dt on
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It's texas, you can't exactly expect them to be any kind of open minded. If it ain't in the bible it ain't.
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Permalink Reply by Fabulous Heather Days of Summer on
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Good Job Caroline ! I am proud of you for opening up the dialogue and setting the stage to educate! You are courageous to make such strong points and give such personal comments!
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OK - I see your point. I was not trying to pick a fight with anyone - so I was intentionally vague. Just wanting to stimulate thought - before comments were made... and yes, I was stimulated by a few comments already made. Apparently I feel strongly about ALL prejudicial behavior - one such illustration in the article above.
Sometimes when things are written, people do not stop to consider - how does this relate to me. I wrote some of it with "you" to help people consider the shoes that they may be walking in - and the ground that they may be judging.
sorry if it reflected salvo - it was really just passion - not war...
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