Transsexuals and the Legal Determination of Sex.

The article focuses on the issue of legally determining a transsexual's individual sex in the U.S. Often situations in which courts determine an individual's sex arise in cases that involve marriage licensing, changes on birth certificates and in discrimination cases. There are three circumstances in which courts determine the sex of a transsexual person, that is, disputer related to the validity of a marriage that involves transsexuals, arguments relating to the change of birth certificates to reflect a transsexual's asserted sex, and cases of alleged discrimination. Transsexualism has been categorized as a 'gender identity disorder' in its diagnostic resources by the medical and psychiatric community in its diagnostic resources. Courts often emphasize upon biological information while considering the transsexualism-related cases. Tests that have been established by the U.S. courts for the determination of legal sex of transsexuals are inadequate as they do not address the evolving ways in which sex and gender are experienced and expressed.