Chief Judge Kay McFarland | ||
Court Supreme Court of Kansas Full case name In the Matter of the Estate of Marshall G. Gardiner, Deceased Decided March 15, 2002 (2002-03-15) Citation(s) 42 P.3d 120 (Kan. 2002); 273 Kan. 191 (2002); 2002 Kan. LEXIS 117 Associate Judges Robert E. Davis, Donald L. Allegrucci, Bob Abbott, Frederick N. Six, Tyler C. Lockett, Edward Larson, Timothy Brazil (assigned to participate) | ||
In re Estate of Gardiner, 42 P.3d 120 (Kan. 2002), is a case in which the Kansas Supreme Court voided the marriage of a man and a trans woman, holding that the latter was considered male under Kansas law, and thus the state's prohibition on same-sex marriage precluded the legal validity of the marriage.
J'Noel Ball married Marshall G. Gardiner in Oskaloosa, Jefferson County, Kansas in September 1998. Marshall, who had previously twice served in the Kansas House of Representatives, died in August of the following year, without having left a will. Marshall's son, Joe, challenged the disposition of the $2.5 million estate, arguing that J'Noel was legally male and therefore that the marriage was invalid. The district court agreed with the son, at appeal, the Kansas Court of Appeals reversed the district court, and the Supreme Court reversed the appellate court in part and affirmed the district court. The Supreme Court of the United States denied certiorari on October 7, 2002.
The ruling has also been described as "de-sex"ing transgender people, based on the court statement that the "words 'sex,' 'marriage,' 'male,' and 'female' in everyday understanding do not encompass transsexuals."
Because J'Noel was born in Wisconsin, and the laws of that state allowed her to change the sex on her birth certificate, the ruling has been criticized for as violating the full faith and credit clause of the United States Constitution.