Found at The Star

Germany's constitutional court ruled on Wednesday that a man seeking legal recognition as a woman will be allowed to stay married to his wife in a landmark decision that further strengthens the rights of transsexuals.
The Karlsruhe-based court ruled unconstitutional a requirement that married transsexuals first get divorced before their new gender could be legally recognised. The court said that law violated a person's basic rights.
The court ruled in favour of a man who was born in 1929 who has three adult children and had been married for 56 years. He underwent a sex-change operation in 2002 and wanted to be legally recognised as a woman but could not until a divorce took place.
The wife of the transsexual also did not want the marriage to be dissolved, the court heard. The court ruled Germany's transsexual law must be changed by August 2009. It has made other rulings in favour of transsexuals in recent years.
There are about 1,000 transsexuals in Germany.

Found at The Star

Technorati: marriage germany transsexual transgender constitutional court

Found at Irish Times

A transsexual prostitute was stopped at Belfast City Airport with earnings of £14,000 (€17,778) hidden around her body, a court heard yesterday.
Malaysian national (31), was said to have been charging clients €350 an hour for her services while working in Northern Ireland.
District Judge Fiona Bagnall granted a forfeiture order for the seized cash after hearing the transsexual did not have legal immigration status.
A PSNI lawyer who made the application at Belfast Magistrates' Court claimed the money was "tainted with unlawfulness".
Barrister Tony Smith said the transsexual - who did not attend the hearing - was interviewed after being stopped at the airport on Wednesday and admitted being a transsexual prostitute working within the jurisdiction.
"Whilst there's nothing illegal in that in itself, further inquiries actually indicated that she was an illegal entrant to the country," Mr Smith said.
A detective constable in charge of the case revealed the cash - a mixture of sterling, euro and dollars - had been "secreted about his person".
She was detained as he went through the central search area and taken for questioning, the court was told.
The officer said police believed all the money was obtained through services provided by the transsexual, who was allegedly returning to the UK from working in Ireland.
Granting the order, Mrs Bagnall said: "Because of his illegal status any monies which have been obtained therefore are illegal."

Found at Irish Times

Technorati: ireland prostitution transsexual transgender