No. 85,030
IN THE COURT OF APPEALS OF THE STATE OF KANSAS
IN THE MATTER OF THE ESTATE OF
MARSHALL G. GARDINER, Deceased.
SYLLABUS BY THE COURT
1. Interpretation of a statute is a question of law over which appellate review is unlimited.
2. The legislative history of K.S.A. 23-101, limiting marriage to two parties of the opposite sex, and K.S.A. 23-115, validity of marriage contracted outside of Kansas, are discussed.
3. Scientific research relating to studies of transsexuals and scientific factors used in determining an individual's sex are discussed in detail.
4. The standard of review for a motion for summary judgment is stated and applied.
5. Whether a Kansas court must give full faith and credit to an order of a sister state is a question of law subject to unlimited appellate review.
6. The general rule is that a judgment rendered by a court of one state is entitled to recognition in the courts of another state to the same extent as it has come to be recognized by law or usage in the courts of the state where the judgment was rendered. The Full Faith and Credit Clause of the United States Constitution also requires one state to give full faith and credit to the public records of other states.
7. The Kansas regulation allowing the change of a sex designation on a birth certificate, K.A.R. 28-17-20, is authorized by statute only for minor correction of records. To the extent this regulation permits changes beyond those which constitute minor corrections, it exceeds its statutory authority.
8. When giving full faith and credit to a foreign judgment, Kansas is required to give only such recognition or weight as the state which issued the judgment. Under Wisconsin law, a court has discretion to determine the evidentiary value of a birth certificate or other vital record which is filed more than 1 year after the event reflected in the record. Accordingly, a Kansas trial court is entitled to make its own determination of the weight to give an amended Wisconsin birth certificate.
9. A new legal theory may not be asserted for the first time on appeal or raised in a reply brief.
10. The prohibition in K.S.A. 2000 Supp. 23-101 barring same-sex marriages does not violate the Equal Protection Clause of the United States Constitution.
11. If a party fails to seek appellate review of the denial of a motion for summary judgment, the trial court's ruling will become a final decision when the case is finally adjudicated.
12. In determining the validity of a marriage in cases in which the sexual identity of a party is at issue, a trial court must consider and decide whether the individual was a male or female at the time the marriage license was issued and not simply what the individual's chromosomes were or were not at the moment of birth. While chromosome makeup is one factor the trial court can consider, the court should consider other factors including gonadal sex, internal morphologic sex, external morphologic sex, hormonal sex, phenotypic sex, assigned sex and gender of rearing, and sexual identity.
Appeal from Leavenworth District Court; GUNNAR A. SUNDBY, judge. Opinion filed May 11, 2001. Reversed and remanded with directions.
Sanford P. Krigel and Karen S. Rosenberg, of Krigel & Krigel, P.C., of Kansas City, Missouri, for appellant J'Noel Gardiner.
William M. Modrcin and David G. Watkins, of Morrison & Hecker L.L.P., of Kansas City, Missouri, and John F. Thompson, of Davis, Beall, McGuire & Thompson, of Leavenworth, for appellee Joseph M. Gardiner, III.
Lisa Nathanson, of American Civil Liberties Union of Kansas and Western Missouri, of Kansas City, Missouri, for amicus curiae ACLU of Kansas and Western Missouri, and Doni Gewirtzman, Ruth E. Harlow, Beatrice Dohrn, and Evan Wolfson, of Lambda Legal Defense and Education Fund, Inc., of New York, New York, and Pamela Sumners, of American Civil Liberties Union of Illinois, of Chicago, Illinois, for amicus curiae Gender Public Advocacy Coalition.
Aronda Strutt Kerns, of Wichita, and Patrick T. Gillen, of Thomas More Center for Law & Justice, of Ann Arbor, Michigan, for amicus curiae Thomas More Center for Law & Justice.
Before GERNON, P.J., KNUDSON and BEIER, JJ.
GERNON, J.: This is an appeal from an order issued by the district court granting summary judgment to Joseph M. Gardiner, III, (Joe) finding the marriage between Joe's father, Marshall G. Gardiner, and J'Noel Gardiner to be void under Kansas law and denying partial summary judgment to J'Noel. We reverse and remand with instructions.
We note that this is the type of case in which the courts are required not only to weigh the legal issues but also to weigh the overlapping and sometimes conflicting positions of the parties and various interested groups. We acknowledge the several briefs filed by each side and the amicus curiae briefs filed by the Gender Public Advocacy Coalition/American Civil Liberties Union of Kansas and Western Missouri and The Thomas More Center for Law & Justice. Each has been helpful.
Some cases lend themselves to precise definitions, categories, and classifications. On occasion, issues or individuals come before a court which do not fit into a bilateral set of classifications. Questions of this nature highlight the tension which sometimes exists between the legal system, on the one hand, and the medical and scientific communities, on the other. Add to those concerns those whose focus is ethics, religion, lifestyle, or human rights, and the significance of a single decision is amplified. We recognize that this may be such a case.
We concur with the observation made by the Supreme Court of Vermont when it wrote:
"It is not the courts that have engendered the diverse composition of today's families. It is the advancement of reproductive technologies and society's recognition of alternative lifestyles that have produced families in which a biological, and therefore a legal, connection is no longer the sole organizing principle." In re B.L.V.B., 160 Vt. 368, 376, 628 A.2d 1271 (1993).
I-Marriage Issue
I-A Court Procedural Background
Marshall died intestate on August 12, 1999. He was a resident of Leavenworth County, Kansas.
Joe filed a petition for letters of administration with the District Court of Leavenworth County, Kansas. Joe named himself and J'Noel, Marshall's surviving spouse, as Marshall's heirs. In his petition, Joe argued that J'Noel had waived any rights to Marshall's estate, and, thus, he was the sole heir-at-law to Marshall.
J'Noel filed an objection to Joe's petition. J'Noel also applied for letters of administration. The court then appointed a special administrator to handle the estate. Joe filed an objection to J'Noel's application.
Joe then petitioned the district court to amend his pleadings. In his amended petition, Joe named himself as Marshall's sole heir. Joe denied that Marshall and J'Noel were validly married. He contended that J'Noel was previously known as Jay N. Ball and was born a man. He argued that despite surgery, a name change, and other steps taken by J'Noel to change sex, she remains a man for the purposes of Kansas law relating to the issuance of a marriage license. Joe argued that the marriage between Marshall and J'Noel is void since, pursuant to K.S.A. 2000 Supp. 23-101, marriages between persons of the same sex are prohibited. Therefore, Joe claimed, J'Noel had no right to a share of Marshall's estate as the surviving spouse.
Joe also argued fraud regarding the waiver of J'Noel's rights and fraud in the inducement to marry in that Marshall did not know J'Noel was born a man. Even if the purported marriage was valid, he stated, J'Noel executed a waiver of any interest in Marshall's assets. Joe also alleged that a premarital agreement was entered into by both parties.
J'Noel filed a response to Joe's objection to her petition for issuance of letters. In the response, J'Noel asserted that her marriage to Marshall was valid. J'Noel argued that she is a biological female, and, as such, under K.S.A. 2000 Supp. 23-101, she is not prohibited from marrying Marshall, a biological male. J'Noel also stated that there is no evidence that she, through a memo written to Marshall, intended to waive any interest in Marshall's property and that no premarital agreement was ever entered into by her and Marshall. J'Noel further asserted that she told Marshall about the sex reassignment surgery she had undergone before the marriage.
Joe moved for summary judgment on the basis of waiver and estoppel and the invalidity of the marriage between J'Noel and Marshall under K.S.A. 2000 Supp. 23-101 due to fraud. J'Noel moved for partial summary judgment on the issue of whether she is legally a female and was a female at the time of the marriage to Marshall. In a memorandum in support of her motion, J'Noel argued that the district court is required to give full faith and credit to the Wisconsin court order changing her sex to female on her birth certificate and to the new birth certificate that was issued.
The district court heard oral arguments on the motions. The court denied Joe's motion with respect to the waiver and estoppel, finding disputed facts in that issue. However, the court granted Joe's motion with respect to the issue of the validity of the marriage, finding that J'Noel was born a male and remains a male for purposes of marriage under Kansas law.
The court found that the marriage between J'Noel and Marshall is void under K.S.A. 2000 Supp. 23-101, that J'Noel is not Marshall's surviving spouse, and therefore, that J'Noel is not entitled to a spousal share under the laws of intestate succession.
The court then stated that J'Noel has no interest in or right to Marshall's estate. Accordingly, J'Noel's motion for partial summary judgment was denied. J'Noel appeals.
I-B Personal Background
J'Noel was born in Green Bay, Wisconsin. J'Noel's original birth certificate indicates J'Noel was born a male. The record shows that after sex reassignment surgery, J'Noel's birth certificate was amended in Wisconsin, pursuant to Wisconsin statutes, to state that she was female. J'Noel argued that the order drafted by a Wisconsin court directing the Department of Health and Social Services in Wisconsin to prepare a new birth record must be given full faith and credit in Kansas.
Marshall was a businessman in northeast Kansas who had accumulated some wealth. He had one son, Joe, from whom he was estranged. Marshall's wife had died some time before he met J'Noel. There is no evidence that Marshall was not competent. Indeed, both Marshall and J'Noel possessed intelligence and real world experience. J'Noel had a Ph.D in finance and was a teacher at Park College.
J'Noel met Marshall while on the faculty at Park College in May 1998. Marshall was a donor to the school. After the third or fourth date, J'Noel testified that Marshall brought up marriage. J'Noel wanted to get to know Marshall better, so they went to Utah for a trip. When asked about when they became sexually intimate, J'Noel testified that on this trip, Marshall had an orgasm. J'Noel stated that sometime in July 1998, Marshall was told about J'Noel's prior history as a male. The two were married in Kansas on September 25, 1998.
There is no evidence in the record to support Joe's suggestion that Marshall did not know about J'Noel's sex reassignment. It had been completed years before Marshall and J'Noel met. Nor is there any evidence that Marshall and J'Noel were not compatible.
Both parties agree that J'Noel has gender dysphoria or is a transsexual. J'Noel agrees that she was born with male genitalia. In a deposition, J'Noel testified that she was born with a "birth defect"--a penis and testicles. J'Noel stated that she thought something was "wrong" even prepuberty and that she viewed herself as a girl but had a penis and testicles.
J'Noel's journey from perceiving herself as one sex to the sex her brain suggests she was, deserves to be detailed. In 1991 and 1992, J'Noel began electrolysis and then thermolysis to remove body hair on the face, neck, and chest. J'Noel was married at the time and was married for 5 years. Also, beginning in 1992, J'Noel began taking hormones, and, in 1993, she had a tracheal shave. A tracheal shave is surgery to the throat to change the voice. All the while, J'Noel was receiving therapy and counseling .
In February 1994, J'Noel had a bilateral orchiectomy to remove the testicles. J'Noel also had a forehead/eyebrow lift at this time and rhinoplasty. Rhinoplasty refers to plastic surgery to alter one's nose. In July 1994, J'Noel consulted with a psychiatrist, who opined that there were no signs of thought disorder or major affective disorder, that J'Noel fully understood the nature of the process of transsexual change, and that her life history was consistent with a diagnosis of transsexualism. The psychiatrist recommended to J'Noel that total sex reassignment was the next appropriate step in her treatment.
In August 1994, J'Noel underwent further sex reassignment surgery. In this surgery, Eugene Schrang, M.D., J'Noel's doctor, essentially cut and inverted the penis, using part of the skin to form a female vagina, labia, and clitoris. Dr. Schrang, in a letter dated October 1994, stated that J'Noel has a "fully functional vagina" and should be considered "a functioning, anatomical female." In 1995, J'Noel also had cheek implants. J'Noel continues to take hormone replacements.
Regardless of whether one agrees with the concept of sex reassignment, one must be impressed with the resolve of, and have compassion for, any human being who undergoes such a demanding set of procedures.
After the surgery in 1994, J'Noel petitioned the Circuit Court of Outagamie County, Wisconsin, for a new birth certificate which would reflect her new name as J'Noel Ball and sex as female. The court issued a report ordering the state registrar to make these changes and issue a new birth certificate. A new birth certificate was issued on September 26, 1994. The birth certificate indicated the child's name as J'Noel Ball and sex as female. J'Noel also has had her driver's license, passport, and health documents changed to reflect her new status. Her records at two universities have also been changed to reflect her new sex designation.
I-C The Kansas Statute: K.S.A. 2000 Supp. 23-101
J'Noel argues that the district court erred when it held that her marriage to Marshall violated K.S.A. 2000 Supp. 23-101. J'Noel argues that the legislature, through the language in K.S.A. 2000 Supp. 23-101, intended to prohibit only homosexual marriages and that her marriage to Marshall was not such a marriage.
K.S.A. 2000 Supp. 23-101 states:
"The marriage contract is to be considered in law as a civil contract between two parties who are of opposite sex. All other marriages are declared to be contrary to the public policy of this state and are void. The consent of the parties is essential. The marriage ceremony may be regarded either as a civil ceremony or as a religious sacrament, but the marriage relation shall only be entered into, maintained or abrogated as provided by law." (Emphasis added.)
For purposes of marriage under Kansas law, the district court found that J'Noel was born and remains a male. Since the statute requires that a marriage must be between two parties of the opposite sex, the court found that the marriage between J'Noel and Marshall was void because both individuals were males.
There is no dispute that the legislature meant to void any marriage between members of the same sex.
The question here is whether J'Noel should have been considered a female under Kansas law at the time the marriage license was issued. Subparts to that question are the criteria used to determine sex and the timing of the determination. Stated another way: Is this marriage, between a post-operative male-to-female transsexual and a male, prohibited under Kansas law?
The interpretation of a statute is a question of law for which appellate review is unlimited. Rose & Nelson v. Frank, 25 Kan. App. 2d 22, 24, 956 P.2d 729, rev. denied 265 Kan. 886 (1998).
The amendment to 23-101 limiting marriage to two parties of the opposite sex began its legislative history in 1975. The minutes of the Senate Committee on Judiciary for January 21, 1976, state that the amendment would "affirm the traditional view of marriage." The proposed amendment was finally enacted in 1980.
K.S.A. 23-101 was again amended in 1996, when language was added, stating: "All other marriages are declared to be contrary to the public policy of this state and are void." This sentence was inserted immediately after the sentence limiting marriage to two parties of the opposite sex.
In 1996, K.S.A. 23-115 was amended, with language added stating: "It is the strong public policy of this state only to recognize as valid marriages from other states that are between a man and a woman."
The legislative history contains discussions about gays and lesbians, but nowhere is there any testimony that specifically states that marriage should be prohibited by two parties if one is a post-operative male-to-female or female-to-male transsexual. Thus, the question remains: Was J'Noel a female at the time the license was issued for the purpose of the statute?
I-D The Science
It is perhaps well to pause and attempt to define what a transsexual is by stating what a transsexual is not. A transsexual is not a homosexual. A homosexual is one who prefers the same sex for sexual contact. Nor is a transsexual a transvestite. A transvestite is one who remains one sex but gains pleasure from dressing like the other sex. A transsexual is one who experiences himself or herself as being of the opposite sex, despite having some biological characteristics of one sex, or one whose sex has been changed externally by surgery and hormones. A transsexual might be a homosexual or a transvestite also, but one does not define the other.
The scientific literature relating to studies of transsexuals is limited both in scope and history. Serious inquiry is limited to approximately the last 30 years. To state that we know everything about this issue is wrong. To state that we know more and more every year about this complex issue is more accurate. This case has the benefit of some research which preceding cases on this issue did not.
A recent study that autopsied the brains of transsexuals and others supports a conclusion that there is a scientific basis for J'Noel's assertion that she was born with a condition--specifically that she had a penis and testicles, which was evidence that she was male, but in most other senses of the word, she was female. The same science which allows us to map the genome and explore our DNA requires us to recognize these discoveries in all aspects of our lives, including the legal ramifications. We can no longer be permitted to conclude who is male or who is female by the amount of facial hair one has or the size of one's feet.
A study in the respected medical journal, The Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism, analyzed the brains of homosexual males, heterosexual males, heterosexual females, and male-to-female transsexuals. It concluded:
"Regardless of sexual orientation, men had almost twice as many somatostatin neurons as women. The number of neurons in . . . male-to-female transsexuals was similar to that of the females . . . . In contrast, the neuron number of female-to-male transsexual was found to be in the male range. . . . The present findings of somatostatin neuronal sex differences in the BSTc (a part of the brain) and its sex reversal in the transsexual brain clearly support the paradigm that in transsexuals sexual differentiation of the brain and genitals may go into opposite directions and point to a neurobiological basis of gender identity disorder." Kruijver, Zhou, Pool, Hofman, Gooren, and Swaab, Male-to-Female Transsexuals Have Female Neuron Numbers in a Limbic Nucleus, 85 The Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism 2034 (2000).
We would be remiss if we did not recognize and mention other medical and scientific information which underscores the complexity of these issues and requires our introspection.
If one concludes that chromosomes are all that matter and that a person born with "male" chromosomes is and evermore shall be male, then one must confront every situation which does not conform with such a rigid framework of thought. There are situations of ambiguity in which certain individuals have chromosomes that differ from the typical pattern. The questions which must be asked, if not answered, are: "Are these people male or female?" and, "Should they be allowed to get married?"
Professor Julie A. Greenberg, writing in the Summer 1999 issue of the Arizona Law Review, states:
"Medical experts recognize that many factors contribute to the determination of an individual's sex. According to medical professionals, the typical criteria of sex include:
1. Genetic or chromosomal sex--XY or XX;
2. Gonadal sex (reproductive sex glands)--testes or ovaries;
3. Internal morphologic sex (determined after three months gestation)--seminal vesicles/prostrate [sic] or vagina/uterus/fallopian tubes;
4. External morphologic sex (genitalia)--penis/scrotum or clitoris/labia;
5. Hormonal sex--androgens or estrogens;
6. Phenotypic sex (secondary sexual features)--facial and chest hair or breasts;
7. Assigned sex and gender of rearing; and
8. Sexual identity.
"For most people, these factors are all congruent, and one's status as a man or woman is uncontroversial. For intersexuals, some of these factors may be incongruent, or an ambiguity within a factor may exist.
"'The assumption is that there are two separate roads, one leading from XY chromosomes at conception to manhood, the other from XX chromosomes at conception to womanhood. The fact is that there are not two roads, but one road with a number of forks that turn in the male or female direction. Most of us turn in the same direction at each fork.'
"The bodies of the millions of intersexed people have taken a combination of male and female forks and have followed the road less traveled. These individuals have noncongruent sexual attributes. For these individuals, the law must determine which of the eight sexual factors will determine their sex and whether any one factor should be dispositive for all legal purposes.
"Because the law has typically looked to biology and the medical community for guidance in determining how an individual's sex should be legally established, the complex nature of sexual differentiation must be understood. . . .
"A. Sexual Differentiation--The Typical Path
"During the first seven weeks after conception, all human embryos are sexually undifferentiated. At seven weeks, the embryonic reproductive system consists of a pair of gonads that can grow into either ovaries (female) or testes (male). The genital ridge that exists at this point can develop either into a clitoris and labia (female) or a penis and a scrotum (male). Two primordial duct systems also exist at this stage. The female ducts are called Mullerian ducts and develop into the uterus, fallopian tubes and the upper part of the vagina if the fetus follows a female path. The male ducts are called Wolffian ducts and are the precursors of the seminal vesicles, vas deferens and epididymis.
"At eight weeks, the fetus typically begins to follow one sex path. If the fetus has one X and one Y chromosome (46XY), it will start down the male path. At eight weeks, a 'master switch' on the Y chromosome, called the testis-determining factor, signals the embryonic gonads to form into testes. The testes begin to produce male hormones. These male hormones prompt the gonads and genitalia to develop male features. Additionally, the testes produce a substance called Mullerian inhibiting factor that causes the female Mullerian ducts to atrophy and be absorbed by the body, so that a female reproductive system is not created.
"Because the typical female fetus is 46XX and does not have a Y chromosome, the master switch that leads to the development of male organs is not turned on. The fetus continues on what is considered the default path and in the thirteenth week the gonads start to transform into ovaries. Because no testes exist to produce male hormones, the remainder of the sexual system develops along a female path. During this time, the Wolffian (male) ducts shrivel up. In other words, unless the body is triggered by hormonal production to follow the male path, the fetus will normally develop as a female. Therefore, although chromosomes generally control the hormones that are produced, it is actually the hormones that directly affect sexual development.
. . . .
"B. Sexual Differentiation--Intersexuals: The Paths Less Followed
"Two circumstances may lead to an intersexual condition: (1) failure to meet the typical criteria within any one factor; or (2) one or more factors may be incongruent with the other factors.
"1. Ambiguity Within a Factor
"a. Chromosomal Ambiguity--Certain individuals have chromosomes that differ from the typical pattern of either XY or XX. Doctors have discovered people with a variety of combinations including: XXX, XXY, XXXY, XYY, XYYY, XYYYY, and XO.
"b. Gonadal Ambiguity--Some intersexuals do not have typical ovaries or testes. Instead, they have 'streak' gonads that do not appear to function as either ovaries or testes. Others have ovotestes, a combination of both male and female gonads. Still others have one ovary and one testis.
"c. External Morphologic Sex--Some individuals' external genitalia are neither clearly male nor clearly female. In addition, some women have clitoral hypertrophy, a clitoris that is larger than the typical clitoris, may more closely resemble a penis, and is sometimes accompanied by an internal vagina.
"d. Internal Morphologic Sex--Some individuals have incomplete internal sex organs or a complete absence of an internal sex organ. In addition, some individuals are born with a combination of male and female internal organs.
"e. Hormonal Sex--The male hormones are referred to as androgens. The female hormones are estrogen and progesterone. Although they are referred to as male and female hormones, all human sex hormones are shared by men and women. Typically, men and women have hormones of each type, but the levels of production and reception of each hormone are highly variable among all individuals. Different medical disorders further influence levels of hormone production and/or reception.
"f. Phenotypic Sex--Individuals may have a variety of combinations of incongruent phenotypic characteristics. In other words, an individual may have characteristics that are typically associated with a male (heavy facial hair) and characteristics that are typically associated with a female (developed breasts).
"g. Assigned Sex/Gender of Rearing--Although it occurs rarely, some parents have raised their child as a gender other than the sex that was assigned by the medical attendant at birth. In addition, in some circumstances, doctors have recommended that a child be raised as the sex different from the one assigned at birth.
"h. Sexual Identity--Sexual identity refers to how individuals would identify themselves; gender identity refers to how society would identify an individual. Some individuals do not consider themselves to be either male or female; they identify themselves as a third sex.
"2. Ambiguity Among Factors
"Some individuals have an incongruence among the eight factors due to a sexual differentiation disorder. In other words, some factors may be clearly male, some may be clearly female, and others may be a mixture of male and female. Incongruity among factors can result from a number of disorders and circumstances including:
a. Chromosomal sex disorders;
b. Gonadal sex disorders;
c. Internal organ anomalies;
d. External organ anomalies;
e. Hormonal disorders;
f. Gender identity disorders; and
g. Surgical creation of an intersexed condition.
"These conditions are described in detail below . . . .
"a. Chromosomal Sex Disorders
"Klinefelter Syndrome
"Approximately one in 500 to 1000 'males' is affected by Klinefelter Syndrome, a condition in which a mostly phenotypic male does not fall neatly into the XY chromosome complement. Individuals with Klinefelter Syndrome will typically have two or more X chromosomes. The testes, and often the penis, are smaller than in unaffected XY males.
"A diagnosis of Klinefelter Syndrome is typically not made before puberty because no easily identifiable sign exists prior to the onset of puberty. The swelling of the breasts (gynecomastia) that occurs in adolescence is typically the first sign of the existence of this intersexual condition. Most individuals with Klinefelter Syndrome report a male psychosexual orientation. Many take supplemental testosterone, which further results in a male phenotype (e.g. facial hair).
"Turner Syndrome
"Disorders of chromosomal sex also appear in phenotypic females. Turner Syndrome is a condition that affects approximately one in 5000 newborn females. Individuals with Turner Syndrome will typically have an XO chromosomal pattern, not falling neatly into the XX, XY binary system. Individuals with Turner Syndrome typically have bilateral 'streak' gonads (unformed and non-functioning gonads) instead of clearly defined ovaries or testes. The absence of complete ovaries or testes in-utero means that the fetus has little exposure to either female or male hormones. In the absence of male hormones, the fetus will follow the female path.
"Individuals with Turner Syndrome are typ