Monday, March 07, 2011

Joanne Cassar Malta Marriage Case Update

Been continuing to track the developments in the Joanne Cassar case for you TransGriot readers.

To bring y'all up to speed on this case, she's the Maltese transwoman who has been fighting a protracted battle for several years to preserve her marriage rights.  She has won and lost at various levels of the Maltese court system and we celebrated when she got another favorable ruling back in December.    

But alas, the Malta AG decided to appeal Cassar's latest win, so the battle continues.   Cassar has made it clear that she intends to fight this all the way to the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg, France if necessary.

But its been bittersweet for her because the scrutiny from the case broke up her relationship with the man she was going to marry..

In the wake of her legal win, a Maltese MP filed legislation allowing for administrative gender changes

The latest news is that Cassar's attorneys Jose Herrera and David Camilleri have filed submission responding to the Malta AG, and referenced the Christine Goodwin vs. UK case in which the European court ruled that the state could not prevent transpeople from getting married.

The decision is supposed to be announced in May.   I would strongly suggest we say our prayers and keep our fingers crossed for Cassar that she wins another round in favor of her marriage rights. 

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