News Item

Transsexual Arrested For Trying To Marry

March 20, 2004

Leavenworth County, KS -- A transsexual woman has been arrested for applying for a marriage license. 48 year old Sandy Clarissa Gast (pictured) is charged with providing false information on an official document.

Gast has legally changed her name and obtained a driver's license that declares her to be a female, but under Kansas law she is still a male.

Sheriff's deputies arrested her shortly after she filled out the license form with her partner and fiancé George Somers.

"The change of driver's license, the change of name -- even though they were done through legal channels, doesn't change gender," Frank Kohl, the Leavenworth County prosecuting attorney told television station KMBC.

"The gender you're born with is the gender you remain for life," Kohl said citing a state Supreme Court ruling that surgical sexual reassignment is only cosmetic and does not actually change gender.

Gast was released on $2,500 bond. She is due back in court on Wednesday, facing a maximum penalty of $500.

Despite being unable to marry, Gast and Somers said they will have their union blessed in a church this weekend, and they haven't given up hope of some day having a state-recognized marriage.

"We're not out to get anyone in trouble or make extreme waves. We just want our lives to be happy," Somers said.