Manchester,
Britain — A MAN who changed sex after being born
a woman has won his final battle against discrimination
by marrying his long-term partner.
For many years marriage
seemed an impossible dream for Dr Stephen Whittle OBE and
his partner Sarah Rutherford, 45.
Stephen, 50, is a
female-to-male transsexual who was born female and has
had surgery to become a man.
Now, after years of
campaigning, the law has been changed for transgender
people, allowing Stephen to be recognised as a man and
paving the way for marriage.
He said: "We both thought
it would be the one thing they wouldn't change. We
thought we would get recognition but being able to marry
seemed impossible - you never, ever thought about it as
even holding down a job down seemed impossible at times."
Stephen said that as well
as being one of the happiest days of his life, his
marriage to Sarah may also be the first transsexual
wedding in the country.
Family
He added: "Getting
married wasn't about politics, it was about family, but
without the politics it would never have happened. There
was a moment of truth when we finally got our marriage
certificate - I held it up and everybody cheered, it was
terrific," he said.
Stephen, of Mauldeth
Road, Heaton Mersey, Stockport, helped to form the
Manchester TVTS Group and launched the Press For
Change <http://www.pfc.org.uk/>
campaign for equal rights.
"I remember thinking
quite early on that I never did anything to hurt anybody
else but I was being treated like a criminal and there
were alot of people in the same situation."
In 2002, after 10 years
of campaigning, the European Courts ruled that
transsexuals had the right to privacy and could be
registered under their new persona. That meant people
like Stephen could get a new birth certificate which, in
turn, opened the door to marriage and a new life.
Now the couple, who have
been together for 26 years and have four children - all
conceived by sperm donor - were able to prove their love
on Saturday when they married at Heaton Mersey Methodist
Church.
"It was wonderful and
it's hard to say how good we felt," said Stephen "We
could feel the wave of happiness and positive thought
behind us and it was quite overwhelming."
