a decision should be made this week on who gets the money.
http://www.victoriaadvocate.com/news...tagorda-county
a decision should be made this week on who gets the money.
http://www.victoriaadvocate.com/news...tagorda-county
We are each our own devil and we make this world our own hell...Oscar Wilde
a decision should be made this week on who gets the money
http://www.victoriaadvocate.com/news...tagorda-county
We are each our own devil and we make this world our own hell...Oscar Wilde
http://www.beaumontenterprise.com/ne...-on-727960.php
WHARTON, Texas — The transgender widow at the center of a court battle focusing on her late firefighter husband's estate apologized Tuesday for her appearance on a tabloid talk show 15 years ago during which she surprised a man who once kissed her with the news that she was born a boy.
Nikki Araguz, 35, expressed deep regret for not telling the man the truth about her gender history upfront and for surprising him with the news during her appearance on the Jerry Springer TV show on Feb. 13, 1995, calling it a mistake she made as an inexperienced teenager. She confirmed her appearance on the show after being questioned by the Chronicle.
SPEAK UP: Who do you believe, the transgender widow of his family?
"It was a horrible experience for everyone involved," Araguz said Tuesday of the TV show. Of the man who appeared on the program with her, she said, "I need to publicly apologize to him for any embarrassment or any situation I put him in. I am truly sorry for any problems and pain that it caused him then. ... It was something I felt terrible about for a long time."
Araguz, who was born Justin Graham Purdue and later had surgery to become a woman in October 2008, is fighting to keep her marriage to Wharton Volunteer Fire Department Capt. Thomas Araguz III from being declared invalid in court.
The 30-year-old firefighter died July 4 while fighting an inferno at an egg farm near Boling. Since then, his parents have filed a lawsuit seeking to void their son's marriage to Nikki Araguz and to award all benefits to his two sons, ages 6 and 9, from a prior marriage.
New to the Araguz case? Check out old stories.
Firefighter's estate frozen
The lawsuit declares Thomas Araguz was unaware of his wife's gender history, though she has argued he knew the truth about her past. His estate remains frozen while the lawsuit is pending in a state district court.
The man who appeared on the Jerry Springer show with Nikki Araguz in 1995 spoke to the Chronicle only on the condition that his name not be published because he said the embarrassment could hurt his employment.
Now 39 and living in Beaumont, he said he was upset by Nikki Araguz's deception 15 years ago and speaking now only out of concern for the late firefighter's children.
The man said he was a 24-year-old University of Texas student in Austin when he came to Houston for a rock concert in November 1994. After the show, he met Nikki Araguz by chance while she was dining at a Houston restaurant.
He said they visited for several hours, kissed and exchanged phone numbers but never had sexual contact.
The man said he had no communication with her until the Jerry Springer show called him two months later, asking him to appear on the TV show in Chicago to hear some news from a woman from his past. He said the show's staff refused to identify the woman.
"I was a poor student back then," he recalled Tuesday. "I thought, 'Chicago, cool.' They flew me in."
While he was on the show, Nikki Araguz appeared and told him she was born a boy. Her demeanor "was almost like tongue in cheek, not remorseful," he recalled.
The man said he kept his cool but chastised Nikki Araguz on camera for being deceitful. The two of them never had contact again.
'It was a big lesson'
Araguz, who was 19 at the time of the incident and received $500 for her appearance on the TV show, called it a mistake.
"Just me being deceptive, appearing at all deceptive, was wrong," she said Tuesday. "It was a big lesson to be honest and upfront."
She said that error does not reflect how she has lived her life since then, insisting she was honest with her first husband of 11 years, whom she later divorced, and made full disclosure about her gender history to Thomas Araguz as well.
"Upfront honesty is the best policy," she said Tuesday. "I never ever did anything like that again. That's not my current character or moral standard."
Araguz said she appeared on four other TV talk shows — two more episodes of Jerry Springer, once on Maury Povich and once on Sally Jessy Raphael — in 1994 and 1995, all focusing on gender issues. Her mother appeared with her on two of the shows.
"I haven't hidden my gender from anybody — hello, I was on five national talk shows. I was not hiding it at all. ... Just because nobody else knew doesn't mean my husband and our close friends did not know."
Read more: http://www.beaumontenterprise.com/ne...#ixzz1N96rjNAc
she has HIV also??
Fallen Fire Fighter's Marriage Illegal
http://dev2000.firefighternation.com...f719d0d4e7ff6e
Im actually glad they found it illegal, well, invalid. If she lied about her being trans i don't believe she is entitled to anything. The deception on her part is unbelievable, not to mention the HIV part.
WOW.
I don't think it's a good thing that they found it illegal. :(
I can't help but feel sorry for her. Her husband died and she doesn't get anything. And we don't know that her husband wasn't aware of her past. She disclosed the information to her first husband, I don't see why she wouldn't again. Plus it sets up a gross precedent for making other marriages illegal.
Originally Posted by Cap-n Meow
The husband HAD to know. She didn't have the surgery until AFTER they got married. I don't think it is a good thing that the marriage has been found to be illegal. It is a step backwards for the gay/lesbian/transgender community. I'm on the fence about whether or not a transgender should divulge their previous life. I'm the type of person that doesn't care. It wouldn't bother me one bit if I found out my significant other was of the same sex in a previous life. We don't divulge every "dirty little secret" about ourselves to others so why should a transgender? I missed where it said she was also HIV positive. I read that her HIV status will be provided to the contestants in her reality show, but I missed where it said she was positive. My status could be provided to someone. It doesn't mean I'm positive. I feel bad for her and all transgenders who have to live a life of hell to be who they are. However, I don't like the reality contest thing. Although, it might bring some light to the transgender community, hopefully in a positive way. I know a FtM. Once he started his transition, he stopped all communication with everyone in his past. I wish he wouldn't have, because I would support him no matter what. Just because I knew him as a female prior, doesn't change how I think of him as a person.
I think it's appropriate they found it illegal because that's how the current law is written. The law itself needs to be changed.
What a bunch of bullshit. The guy knew. Sorry his friends and family were intolerant which explains why he kept it quiet. They loved each other, what the fuck does it matter what she was born with? So every woman who has a boob job for a guy who loves tits should also be an invalid marriage.
http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/...nefits-denial/
A transgendered woman will appeal a Texas court ruling that says she is not entitled to surviving-spouse benefits because her marriage to a deceased fireman was not legal.
The case is of national interest because of its implications for transgender unions and state laws forbidding same-sex marriage.
The case of Nikki Paige Araguz will be appealed “in a timely manner,” Houston-based Frye and Associates said Wednesday. The firm is led by Phyllis Frye, who personally changed from male to female many years ago and is a leader in transgender-law issues.
Ms. Araguz’s appeal follows a May 26 ruling by Wharton County District Judge Randy Clapp, which found that Wharton Volunteer Fire DepartmentCapt. Thomas Araguz III “was not married” as of July 4, 2010, the day of his death, and “any purported marriage” between him and Ms. Araguz “was void as a matter of law.”
Soon after Araguz died fighting a fire, his mother and administrator of his estate, Simona Longoria, brought a lawsuit to void his August 2008 marriage to Ms. Araguz.
Araguz’s estate is estimated at more than $600,000. Ms. Araguz said that as his widow, she is eligible for some of those benefits and that Araguz demonstrated his intention for her to share in any inheritance by naming her as a beneficiary in one document.
Araguz’s family and ex-wife Heather Delgado said his entire estate should go to his two children with Ms. Delgado. They also said he had only recently learned that his wife was formerly a man, and they had been separated for the two months before his death.
Austin Nimocks of the Alliance Defense Fund, which supported the plaintiffs, said Judge Clapp’s ruling was based on a 1999 Texas appellate court ruling that said that a transsexual woman was “still a male” based on her male chromosomes. The appeals court “determined that gender is fixed, saying, ‘There are some things we cannot will into being. They just are,’ ” said Chad Ellis, an attorney for the plaintiffs.
Ms. Frye and her colleagues said they will argue that a 2009 Texas law trumps the 1999 court ruling. The 2009 law says that a court order showing that a name or sex has been changed is acceptable proof of identity for marriage, they said.
Ms. Araguz, who was born Justin Purdue, said her husband was well aware of her transsexual history, her HIV-positive status and her October 2008 sex-reassignment surgery.
“I am completely devastated by the court ruling,” she said. “With this ruling, I continue to be reminded of the bias that exists toward transsexual and intersex people.”
© Copyright 2011 The Washington Times, LLC.
I was looking for something else and ran across this thread. I was curious so I googled Nikki Araguz and it looks like she died of an accidental overdose in 2019.
https://abc13.com/transgender-activi...lgbtq/5683529/
Transgender activist Nikki Araguz-Loyd found dead in home
https://www.houstonchronicle.com/new...a-15066017.php
Cause of death released for Houston-area transgender activist Nikki Araguz Loyd
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nikki_Araguz_Loyd
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