Since we posted this item yesterday about the transgender widow of a fallen firefighter near Houston, the story has gone national, but as far as we can tell, the local ABC affiliate is the only media outlet that’s actually talked to the widow, Nikki Araguz:
Thomas Araguz was a volunteer firefighter. He died in a blaze at an egg farm July 4 near Boling. The fire was ruled accidental.
His mother, Simona Rodriguez Longoria, and ex-wife, Heather Delgado, have filed suit at the Wharton County Courthouse, claiming he did not know Nikki had been born a man.
Citing the state constitution and family code, they allege the marriage should be declared void because they “…were members of the same sex.”
Nikki Araguz finds that preposterous.
“No one knew him better than I did,” she told us. “No one knew me better than he did.”
Araguz says her husband knew fully that she was born a man. She says they were married at the time she physically became a woman.
“He was with me through the operation,” she told us. “He didn’t physically go with me, but we were already married prior to the operation.”
But Attorney Frank Mann has a different take. He represents Araguz’s ex-wife.
“She deceived Thomas into marrying her,” he said. Mann says he confronted Thomas Araguz with Nikki’s original birth certificate — and original name — during a deposition just two months ago. “He was shocked to learn to see the birth certificate that I had. I had a certified copy of Nikki’s birth certificate,” Mann said. “I deposed him first and asked him questions, and basically, he was shocked to learn he was a man.”
We’re still wondering how the question of whether Mr. Araguz knew his wife was transgender is even relevant to the question of whether she should receive death benefits.
But if it’s true that she had surgery after they were married, it seems she could easily prove it with medical records. It’s quite possible that Mr. Araguz knew she was transgender but lied about this knowledge publicly — and to family and friends — to avoid embarrassment.
Unfortunately, none of this addresses the real problem behind the lawsuit — Texas’ convoluted and archaic hodgepodge of statutes and case law concerning the subject.
this is appalling, she was his wife. what do you think he would have wanted?
she is a human being and should have the rights of a human being.
i agree with you sharlet.
I live in Wharton. Nikki is tiny and extremely feminine in appearance. No one in a million years would suspect she hadn’t been born female. High school must have been hell for her. And I learned today that, as Justin, she attended Wharton High School. Poor thing. It’s a classic jockocracy. I don’t know when she and Thomas met or whether he knew of her transgender status. She says he did, but the things she says don’t always add up. As Nikki she is outgoing, as Justin she was reportedly very quiet. I fear she still hasn’t quite learned all the social cues.
Thomas had asked for a divorce about a week before the fire. She was driving out to California when it happened and was called back to town. During the ensuing hullabaloo over the death, no mention was made of the pending divorce. I can’t help wondering whether his state of mind affected his ability to take care of himself in a dangerous situation.
That news report really did a bit of a hatchet job on her interview. The whole interview is posted here:
https://abclocal.go.com/ktrk/video?id=7563539&syndicate=syndicate§ion&cmp=FB-news-7563539
Apparently, she also seems to say that she was born without any reproductive organs, and had external male genitalia that never developed past the point of a two year old.
Candyce, while I agree that high school must have been hell for her, I believe the info you received that she attended Wharton High School is false. I believe she attended Jersey Village High School in Houston- Class of 1992.
It’s not just the death benefits that grandma and the ex- are claiming. They want ALL the joint assets. Anything in either name. Nikki was the principal earner, even paying the deceased’s child support. The deceased was a *volunteer* fireman, not paid for it, all the money came from his wife, a successful businesswoman. But the two vultures want the lot, every penny – and their claims in court don’t even mention the kids, that’s just for public consumption. They know full well that the children get half of any death benefit, regardless of the outcome of the case.
It’s not about whether he married a transgender. It’s about the money. There’s $600,000 in insurance money…and his family is playing the “Show me the money!” game.