Judge Randy M. Clapp
Meghan Stabler reports that Wharton County District Judge Randy M. Clapp has denied transgender widow Nikki Araguz’s motion for a new trial.
Stabler, a board member for the Human Rights Campaign who’s been monitoring the case, said even though the motion was filed 10 days ago, Clapp hadn’t read it when he arrived in court for a hearing this morning. Clapp called for a recess so he could read the motion, then returned and promptly dismissed it, Stabler said.
In May, Clapp issued a summary judgment saying Araguz isn’t entitled to death benefits from her husband, fallen volunteer firefighter Thomas Araguz III. Clapp ruled the Araguzes’ marriage was invalid since she was born male.
In light of today’s decision, Araguz’s legal team plans to appeal Clapp’s decision to Texas’ 13th circuit court in Corpus Christ, Stabler said.
Araguz is now being represented jointly by Haynes & Boone, Katine & Nechman, and Frye & Associates.
That’s some pretty negligent behaviour for a judge – isn’t he supposed to be as informed as possible about the cases he handles, instead of issuing kneejerk summary dismissals?
I just hope this case goes as far as necessary to overturn the inherent discrimination of ignoring/denying marriages (or anything else) due to what sex is listed on a birth certificate. A birth certificate is by its very nature “incomplete evidence” for what/who a person really is.
Wow Haynes & Boone…..she has a great legal team. Pro-Bono? B/c they are $$$$ they help major corporations.
It’s not surprising that he also a board member of the HRC, it’s not like their known for being too concerned about trans rights.
GOod for him. We cant just change the laws to suit our friends. The law is the law. He was born a man and no matter what he did to change his body he is still a man. I am glad that somebody is standing up rof morality in this country full of liberals who want to deny gender as a whole and start making up a list of “genders” to change the law to suit thier every whim! No thanks!
Justice! –
https://www.usrf.org/news/010308-guevedoces.html
You’re not standing up for morality – you’re standing up for the biological equivalent of saying “The Earth is Flat, End Statement!”
Yes, in some parts of the world, one or another of the mutations that can cause a natural sex change – 5ARD and 17BHDD being the most common, but there are others – they’re more common than the CCR1 mutation that causes red hair.
1 in 300 men in the USA don’t have 46XY chromosomes, despite what you were taught at school. That’s over half a million.
Angelica, get your facts right before you slam the HRC. The judge was never a board member for the HRC, they had a HRC member in the court room to monitor what was happening.
Being Trans myself and being intimately involved in HRC, you are wrong. It’s getting tiring to see people whine and complain about a group.
If you don’t like the HRC, go and create your own non profit group. No one’s stopping ya.
Nikki Araguz is a woman, born a woman. Her body is for her to define, not us. This judge would do well to understand that his indifference to the plight of a minority will not do well for his career in a few more years. Face it… the fact that this is making the news shows that times are changing.. and bigotry like this will not stand.
Shame on you, for letting your religion influence legal decisions. (This is likely illegal too, Separation of Church and State FTW)
@”Justice” – You were born a pompous ass, and you will die a pompous ass.
If “morality” means throwing human rights out the window, screw them. I would rather be “immoral” and human, than, whatever you choose to call yourself!
Gender always has, and always will be, a fluid construct. The only people who made it so strict and inflexible, were religious groups who felt the need to have everything in its little box. Anything that doesn’t fit their antiquated ideals is blasphemous, or “immoral.” Granted, the church is for sale (as the introduction of divorce quite nicely proved, as does Easter, Christmas, and the Trinity)
FYI Crysta, the seperation of church and state was not intended to seperate church and state, liberal anti christian anti religion groups and poeople like you have changed the origianl intent to fit your dieas. The original intent of the what is in the constitution : “The whole purpose of the first amendment establishment clause was to protect religion and religious people from government.” was to protect us from the government. Do your research before you just say what every other uneducated liberal says. This country was founded on Christian principals weather you people like it or not. And the reason it is falling is because we have moved away from God and his laws.
Gender is only fluid if your an idiot. Gender was created by God, male and female he made them. You people have created a whole new set of “genders” and you want the laws changed to fit your desires. No matter how loudly you try to shove your lifestlyes down our throats, you will never feel good about yourselves. Because truly, you get treated the same as everyone else. YOu want special treatment not equal treatment. Go do your homework. Nikki was born a man and her birth certificate proves it as well as her sex reasignment surgery that she openly says she had therefore she cannot claim that $600,000 which is what this is relly about.
@Jusitce,
Some of the rest of your comments are kind of personal – “uneducated liberal says” , “Gender is only fluid if your an idiot.” , ” No matter how loudly you try to shove your lifestlyes down our throats” “YOu want special treatment not equal treatment. ” you want the laws changed to fit your desires”
Do you know what an ad hominem argument is? That is, a ‘personal attack?’ When trying to prove a point online, it’s best to use logic and not to attack people personally. Honestly, reading your comments I see more anger than I see logical reasons this widow shouldn’t get her money.
“Gender was created by God, male and female he made them.” Then why are so many babies born with neither female or male genitalia? If people were designed by god, then surely intersexed people were part of his design?
“And the reason it is falling is because we have moved away from God and his laws.”
Not entirely true, there are some Christians out there who are very animate about following each and every of God’s rules to the letter. They regularly peacefully protest to demonstrate how america is violating God’s laws and how america is doomed. They’re called the westboro baptist church. Their website is godhatesfags dot com if you want to look at it.
No logic in the world would make LBGTI etc happy or make them stop screaming equality when they already get it. As for the people born with no genitalia or both… birth defects is what that is. And the fact that our government has kicked God out of almost every arena and is moving to kick him out of everything is exact;ly why this country is headed downwards. God has to be the center of this country for change to happen. Weathersome people believe in him or not, he is still real and alive today and is the only chance any of us has. and you want a logical reason she doesnt have a right to this money? Its called the law of the land. She was born male and was still a male when they married and even if she wasnt male and had already changed her parts the law still says that what you were born is what you legally are. She has no right ot this money. Those boys need to get every cent of that money.
this is what happens when someone like, “justice!” gets a computer for his birthday.
/Logically/ – and this is why “the law” is wrong and needs to be overturned through this case – the rights and intentions of her late husband should be respected, and it is he as much as her who is being treated as irrelevant here. If anyone wants to make the argument that she “has no right” to any part of his estate when she is the one that he knowingly married (as indeed he did), then they need to prove their case on some actual grounds of criminal action or intent or legal incapacity, not on the basis of originally-assigned gender – because that is inherently sexual discrimination, as well as denying the rights of someone not even in the targeted minority class (because being with someone who is trans doesn’t make you gay, contrary to paranoid belief). If people have respect for marriage – instead of just being “Defensive” about it (:P) – then they ought to be respecting this marriage as a settled fact and taking any remaining objections to another tack. As it is, I hope this case helps strike down all the other irrational anti-LGBTI marriage prohibitions on the books, even the amendments. And “justice!” – separation of church and state was indeed meant to keep religion from meddling in government business and not just the other way around. The founding fathers were well aware, though most today have nostalgically forgotten about it, of the interdenominational and domestic strife, intolerance and violent persecutions in the original religiously-defined colonies, and while not denying their virtues would not support allowing their intolerance to rule civil law and policy for the nation. And there are no lack of direct quotations in support of that point – Deism =/= denominationalism, let alone any form of fundamentalism. Theocrats don’t have the U.S. Constitution on their side, whatever they may believe and keep feeding themselves.