## Facts

- M.T. was assigned male at birth, identified as female from an early age, and lived socially as a woman.
- J.T., a cisgender man, entered a relationship with M.T., lived with her, and financially supported her.
- In 1971, with J.T.’s financial assistance, M.T. underwent genital sex-reassignment surgery, including removal of male sex organs and construction of a vagina.
- After surgery, M.T. obtained an amended New York birth certificate listing her sex as female.
- In 1972, M.T. and J.T. participated in a ceremonial marriage in New York, then lived together in New Jersey as spouses and engaged in sexual intercourse.
- In 1974, J.T. left the marital home and stopped providing financial support.
- M.T. filed an action for support and maintenance; J.T. asserted the marriage was void because M.T. was “male,” making the union an unrecognized same-sex marriage under then-existing New Jersey law.
- The trial court found M.T. female for marital purposes, found no fraud by M.T., and ordered J.T. to pay weekly support; J.T. appealed.

## Issues

1. Whether a post-operative transgender woman may be recognized as female for purposes of marriage validity under New Jersey law.
2. Whether, if the marriage is valid, the husband owes spousal support despite the wife’s sex assigned at birth.

## Decision

- The Appellate Division affirmed the support order.
- The court held M.T. was female for marital purposes at the time of the marriage, making the marriage a valid heterosexual marriage.
- Because the marriage was valid and no fraud was shown, J.T. remained subject to ordinary spousal support obligations.

## Legal Principles

- For marital purposes, legal sex may be determined by a composite assessment that gives controlling weight to the congruence between post-treatment anatomical/genital characteristics and gender identity (psychological sex).
- Sex is not limited to sex assigned at birth based solely on chromosomes or gonads; it may include chromosomal, gonadal, hormonal, genital, internal morphologic, and psychological factors.
- When medical treatment irreversibly aligns anatomy with a genuine, medically supported gender identity and the person can function sexually in that sex, public policy does not require invalidating an opposite-sex marriage on birth-assigned sex alone.
- A spouse who knowingly enters and maintains the marital relationship, including supporting sex-reassignment treatment, cannot avoid support by later asserting the marriage is void where the other spouse is legally recognized in the affirmed sex and no fraud is established.

## Conclusion

The court treated a post-operative transgender woman as female for marital purposes, upheld the validity of her marriage to a man, and enforced the husband’s duty to provide spousal support absent fraud.


M.T. v. J.T., 355 A.2d 204 (N.J. Super. Ct. App. Div. 1976)