The couple married in Virginia which does not acknowledge same-sex marriages. The reality is that states and countries which don’t recognize same-sex marriages or unions then they don’t only discriminate against same-sex couples but also transgendered people. The old laws are all built on the assumption that people come in two types: no not black or white much more basic than that. Our whole Western society is built around the idea that people are born one sex and die the same sex. Not all societies assume that people stay the sex that they were born as. Both Asia and the Pacific Island societies don’t have the same taboos. The “lady-boys” of Thailand aren’t a product of the Vietnam war or Western imperialism in the region. Nope the concept of boys who became feminine at puberty is recognized and accepted in the society. In Samoa if a family doesn’t have a daughter its a problem because one of the daughter’s roles is traditionally to look after her parents in their old age. Its not uncommon for one of the son’s to become a transgender female to take that role.
