Supreme Court of New Jersey, Appellate Division. M.T., Plaintiff V. J.T., Defendant

This case was submitted October 14, 1975 and decided on March 22, 1976. It originates with a wife filing a simple complaint for support from her husband. The legal issue sharpened radically when the defendant alleged that M.T. was a male and that the marriage was void. Following a hearing the judge determined that the plaintiff was indeed a female and that the defendant was her husband. The Superior Court held that where a transsexual was born with …

…considered a territory for the states to decide, however, it is not without constitutional limits. Recent decisions have established that the right to marry is part of the fundamental right of privacy implicit in the Fourteenth Amendment's Due Process Clause. The recent U.S. Supreme Court decision of Lawrence v. Texas, 2003, suggests if states are challenged, they may have difficulty justifying the constitutionality of legislative schemes that preclude transsexuals from marrying persons of their choice.