Defining Sex for Marriage

Re “Gender Blender: Intersexual? Transsexual? Male, female aren’t so easy to define,” Commentary, April 19: Eric Vilain brings up some important points regarding the futility of attempting to legislate what makes someone male or female for the sake of marriage. However, he fails to recognize that most intersex people are satisfied in the gender they were raised in, and those cases may end up being the most troubling.

Many intersex people are never told the truth about genital surgeries done during childhood. If sex reassignment takes place during childhood and that person successfully identifies in the gender that matches his or her genitals, under Texas law the person could be denied the right to marry even as a heterosexual. We would only hope that this little tidbit of information hadn’t been kept from the person, only to result in a nasty surprise at the altar, if marriage were to be legally defined as one XY man, one XX woman. The issue is much more than anatomy for people born with an intersex condition.

Betsy Driver

Executive Director

Bodies Like Ours

Easton, Pa.

It’s not so much the personal intrusion to determine who’s male and female (and therefore qualified to marry) as it is the cost of making such determinations. Discrimination is no problem for most people as long as it doesn’t cost anything.

If President Bush and the proponents of putting a federal marriage amendment in the Constitution are so displeased with same-sex couples that they insist on denying them fair and equitable treatment under the law, then pass the amendment. But that campaign must also raise taxes to require genital inspections of every couple seeking to renew and retain their marriage license year after year.

It’s fine to destroy someone else’s goals and aspirations as long as no one has to pay for it.

Alan Ross

Marina del Rey

Vilain makes sense. I love a lesbian. I first met her over 25 years ago.

I don’t know about genetics, but I do know that if a “gay gene” were identified to the satisfaction of all the world, there would still be those who had the gene and would insist that they were not gay as well as those who would insist that they were gay and wouldn’t have it.

Every person deserves respect and equality under the law.

Ronald Webster

Long Beach