Bellinger v Belingger

OPINIONS OF THE LORDS OF APPEAL FOR JUDGMENT
IN THE CAUSE

Bellinger (FC) (Appellant) v. Bellinger

LORD NICHOLLS OF BIRKENHEAD


My Lords,
Can a person change the sex with which he or she is born? Stated in an over-simplified and question-begging form, this is the issue raised by this appeal. More specifically, the question is whether the petitioner, Mrs Elizabeth Bellinger, is validly married to Mr Michael Bellinger. On 2 May 1981 Mr and Mrs Bellinger went through a ceremony of marriage to each other. Section 1(c) of the Nullity of Marriage Act 1971, re-enacted in section 11(c) of the Matrimonial Causes Act 1973, provides that a marriage is void unless the parties are 'respectively male and female'. The question is whether, at the time of the marriage, Mrs Bellinger was 'female' within the meaning of that expression in the statute. In these proceedings she seeks a declaration that the marriage was valid at its inception and is subsisting. The trial judge, Johnson J, refused to make this declaration: see [2001] 1 FLR 389. So did the Court of Appeal, by a majority of two to one: see [2001] EWCA Civ 1140 , [2002] 2 WLR 411. The majority comprised Dame Elizabeth Butler-Sloss P and Robert Walker LJ. Thorpe LJ dissented.
In an alternative claim, advanced for the first time before your Lordships' House, Mrs Bellinger seeks a declaration that section 11(c) of the Matrimonial Causes Act 1973 is incompatible with articles 8 and 12 of the European Convention on Human Rights. The Lord Chancellor has intervened in the proceedings as the minister with policy responsibility for that statutory provision.
Mrs Bellinger was born on 7 September 1946. At birth she was correctly classified and registered as male. That is common ground. For as long as she can remember, she felt more inclined to be female. She had an increasing urge to live as a woman rather than as a man. Despite her inclinations, and under some pressure, in 1967 she married a woman. She was then twenty one. The marriage broke down. They separated in 1971 and were divorced in 1975.
Since then Mrs Bellinger has dressed and lived as a woman. She underwent treatment, described below. When she married Mr Bellinger he was fully aware of her background. He has throughout been entirely supportive of her. She was described on her marriage certificate as a spinster. Apart from that, the registrar did not ask about her gender status, nor did Mrs Bellinger volunteer any information. Since their marriage Mr and Mrs Bellinger have lived happily together as husband and wife, and have presented themselves in this way to the outside world.

Well,well...well....that the story of half an man and half a woman!
Weird isn't it!..... but with due respect wobbling doubling
in the mind is dangerous.
Concious vs Desire are two diffrent methodology in approaching.
I ...say...body and soul are miles apart it is something like water and oil,
they by nature do not blend together.
Happy Hunting!!!