Nikki Araguz: Lawsuit Says Widow Of Heroic Wharton Firefighter Was Born A Man

• Nikki should be given the benefits. Her interview on KUHT explains the medical issues related to this. She is as much a woman and more of a woman than some women I know. It is ridiculous for her greedy ex- wife - in - law to try and take money that belongs to Nikki. Nikki deserves to be treated with respect and dignity, which is more than I can say for her husbands ex-wife. I would be proud to have a Nikki as a wife and she is a brave lady for the waay she has conducted herself.

• http://www.myfoxhouston.com/dpp/news/local/100727-transgender-drama-seeps-into-courtroom

• Let's get this transgender label out of here. It is time to treat Nikki as the intersexed woman that she is and dismiss the complaint/suit against her and let her have peace and offer condolences in this time. As for the Littleton case, in 1999 although there were reports of XY phenotypic females, there were no reports of individuals who were fertile biological females and who had so-called male chromosomes. The first report of unassisted fertility in an XY female wasn't reported until February of 2001 in the following report. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/11780190 "Sequencing of the SRY motif in an XY female who gave birth to a normal baby showed no mutations." In fact, as stated above, even the so-called male gene on the Y chromosome showed no alteration in this fertile female. Thus the so-called "sex chromosome" test needs to be dismissed and not even considered. Females- both fertile and infertile can be XX or XY.

• Gdoc: Can you not read? I am well aware of ambiguous gender issues. I only spoke of the law in Texas (in response to another posting) & most of the world. Any issues other than chromosomes used to determine sex are those noticed at birth. I expressed no opinion of any agreement or disagreement with the law. Nor did I in any way give an opinion as to Nikki Araguz's sex. I have only second hand information, none given under oath. Likely that is what you and most readers have as well. And for you to attempt to state how I feel about the issue is silly. BTW I have a degree in biochemistry. It's not like I have no formal education concerning these very complicated, and often very painful, issues.

• CAN SOMEONE CORRECT ME: I READ THAT AFTER THE CUSTODY HEARING/DEPOSTION, THE TWO SEPARATED? WHY DID THEY SEPARATE? DOES ANYONE KNOW? WAS IT B/C HE FOUND OUT ABOUT THE HE/SHE GENDER?

• I belive the money should be 50/50 for Nicki and his Children and lord I hope his Mom does not see a penny of it as his ex wife. They both work and made the money why would she not get Half of it. So Nicki I wish you good luck and keep your head high, I meet you a long time ago and you are a nice person and very open about who you are and what you have done to become a lady. we all have pass in our life.

• My husband grew up with thomas, its a shame this has to happen to him and his children. Everyone knew tht his marriage to nikki was werid especially when he married this person 3 months after divorcing his high school sweet heart. People shouldn't talk shit about what they dont know.

• Ralph W. You are a little misinformed both on the frequency of ambiguous gender/ genetalia / chromosomal gender and what creates ambiguous gender and genitalia. It is true that chromosomally some estimates are that only about 2% of the population have chromosomes that make clear male/female gender identification impossible or vague. There are many chromosomal and developmental differences that create this phenomenon however, not just the two well known conditions you point to. Even the 2% rate however (as low as it is), creates a concern that we as a society must consider, and we must do so with an eye toward human rights. We must not allow ourselves to be distracted or confined by simple black and white answers or simple male/female gender assignments, just because it makes some squeamish to consider things aren�t that simple. The topic is far more complicated than most people understand. What you (Ralph W) and others seem to be suggesting is that you are comfortable knowing that 2% of our population cannot enjoy the right to marriage and the benefits (whether emotional or financial) that those of us with clear chromosomal or genitalia gender do. How does that argument make any sense? Additionally, your argument does not address that we now know the influence of fetal environment development on physical and emotional gender expression despite chromosomal gender. We have two recent female athletes (Indian 800 meter runner Santhi Soundarajan and South Africa�s Caster Semanya) that help point to how complicated and ambiguous gender can be. Even if gender were as simple as you and others would like to believe, there still remains a sector of our population that do not enjoy some of the same basic rights and assumptions you and I enjoy, one of those being the right to marry the person we love. If we view this topic through the lens of basic human rights and do not moralize gender identification, then our path is clear. We as a society should support the rights of those not in the main stream. It wasn�t very long ago; these same questions came up in the courts regarding interracial marriage. We don�t know for sure what Nikki�s situation is, nor as far as I�m concerned does it matter. What does matter is that I for one choose to be on the right side of history by supporting transgender as well as same sex marriage� because if Nikki were my sister, I would want her to have love in her life and the law to support her right to marry. It�s the right thing to do�

• He married her 2 yrs ago and loved her as a wife. She deserves the benefits not the ex-wife. Law should change for her. Please write a book.

• His kids should inherit rather than a wife of not even 2 years. If she had any decency, she'd see that.

• Please correct me if I misunderstood. Didn't she say in an interview that she never had any medical changes made, that all her changing was made naturally? If so, this may indicate a chromosomally female individual who may have been exposed to androgens before birth, causing a male appearance, which during puberty fails to proceed in the expected male pattern due to the inherent female pubertal processes increasing feminization during that time. Chromosomally male individuals generally develop male secondary sex characteristics during puberty, whether they want to or not. She didn't. Her bone structure, facial features, and voice reveal an underlying femininity, which could prove that the arbitrary decision to assign male gender at birth was a HUMAN error. It was not her decision to be determined a boy child and raised that way. Parents of children born with ambiguous genitalia often take the advice to raise the child as a boy, whether due to most parents' desire for male children, or medical opinion of the child's best interests, I'm not sure. This is not a case of a man who decided to become a woman. It is the case of a little girl who was mistaken to be a boy, and raised to try her hardest to be what was expected of her, and she really did try. But in the long run the truth had to come out. As she grew up it became so exhausting to keep trying to be a boy, that nobody could keep up such a charade forever. She didn't work to become a woman. She just quit making such an effort to be a man, and tried to just be herself, whatever that may be. The truth came out on its own. Nikki, you are brave and unique, and you are teaching us something important about the assumptions we make, our phobias and enculturations, and the value of open-mindedness. Please take care of yourself and remain strong until justice prevails.

• If his family knew, so did he - and probably before they knew. The two were allowed to marry and considered themselves married, and the family should stay out of it. Thomas Araguz would not be the only straight, ordinary man to fall in love with a woman he knows was born, or partly born, technically a male. NOBODY goes through the ordeal or correcting surgery, that whole process, without a VERY good reason. There is such a thing as love and respect, or should be. You marry a person, not a specimen, and as another poster points out, there are not two easily distinguishable sexes, there are many variations. The family is out to steal their son's and his wife's belongings just to get even for God knows what, and they are showing contempt for their dead son and his choice.

• Just to clarify my latest posting: I was only speaking of the sex chromosomes. There are a number of other adnormalities involving other sets of chromosomes. Likely all of us know someone with Downs Syndrome (an extra 21st chromosome.) These situations are the results of non-disjunction. (Chromosome pair does not split as normal. One gamete ends up with both chromosomes of a pair, the other none.) But as stated, this is not at issue in this case.

• Well Mary P. I've been married for over 40 years. I didn't make the law, I only stated the law. I will not hold my breath waiting for some medical person to seek you out for your advice on what determines one's sex. As to blood test, you need one now and needed one when I married long ago. You mention those clearly not defined as to sex due to chromosomable adnormalities. There are very few fetuses that make it with more or less than a set of 2 of chromosomes. There are some, most common Klinfelter's Syndrome (always male), & Turner's Syndrome. Neither of those is an issue in this case. And Wyatt, why do you fear full, honest, disclosure?

• Of course he knew about his wife's change...his family and ex need to accept it and move on.

• "I think a chromosome test should be required for marriage." Stupidest thing I have heard all day, for a number of reasons. But don't worry, Ralph Wiggum, it's still early.

• (Ralph W) All I can say is WTF?! You obviously must not be married. The whole point of marriage is trust. Im pretty sure they didnt make love in the dark for two years and Furthermore have you seen any reconstructed parts of men and women? and basically what youre saying is EVERYONE in the state of Texas needs to have a blood test to get married...for what? so you can sleep at night? how about you start paying for all of these blood test or start taking them for people and then see how you feel about it. If you are unaware of your partner than by all means do whatever you want but dont try to point the finger else where! he trusted that woman cause if he didnt he wouldnt have married her annnnnnnnnnnnnd "Jack Sampson, a University of Texas law professor. Not everyone is born with a set of chromosomes, XX or XY, that clearly defines their gender." these laws saying that they are not married is a bunch of bullshit! Some peoples stupidity just really shows through sometimes. That married is a contract signed by both parties agreeing to be with each other till the end of time. There is no where stating it has to be man and woman who get married and if someone throws that its in the bible crap. we dont even allow God in our schools anymore and for the longest have been thinking about taking the "In GOD we trust" off the dollar. so if GOD is not anywhere where it matters, then why even bring it up? God also said every man and woman is created equal but we dont treat each other equal. No, we have to put up laws for the ppl who we dont approve of or the ppl we are scared of. Give the woman her money, this whole case is going to be able rather if she is woman or man, and quiet frankly its a shame that americans feed off this crap. we are always to busy to point the finger at someone else but on the other side of the world, it wouldnt even been an issue where the money would go. Anyways I wish her the best.

• Uhhhh: YOU ARE WRONG! In Texas, as in most places, a Y chromosome makes you male. Having a sex change operation does NOT change that fact. Who knows what he knew? The Colorado MD who does so many sex change operations swears that an OBGYN could not tell by a normal physical. I think a chromosome test should be required for marriage. That way the other person would be sure to know and could make up their mind based on the truth.

• I live far away in Sweden, and even I am now familiar with this terrible situation. As I see it, Mr Araguz had the courage to marry the person he wanted to marry, and what Mrs Araguz was before is none of the in-laws' business. They are trying to rob her blind for no reason at all, it's a disgrace. Mrs Araguz, and Mr Araguz's children, are the rightful heirs. Where in all this does mourning come in? Filing a lawsuit against your son's widow a week after his passing? Pitiful, an act of vengeance and greed.

• ...

• From what I understand, when someone undergoes a sex change operation, they are issued a new birth certificate that identifies them as the sex they have changed to. Therefore, if she had a complete sex change operation then they were legally married and she was legally a woman. How else would Texas allow them to marry? Last I heard, Texas does not allow same sex marriages. So she would have had to have completed her sex change operation to be identified as a woman to obtain a marriage license. Except of course this is happening in Texas, so what else would you expect.

• I don't know if matters at all but Mrs Araguz worked as a manager at OutSmart, the Houston gay-lesbian-transgender magazine until May 2009. This according to the magazine's own website, which announced her departure on 9 May 2009, the year after her marriage. Strangely, the press announcement states she was also known as Nikki Paige Purdue, Nikki Paige Purdue-Mata, and Nikkie Paige-Purdue. Whatever the case it is possible Mr Araguz had some idea of his wife's origins given her place of employment.

• OMG...ARE YOU SERIOUS? "Nikki is now being sued by Thomas' mother and ex-wife, who claim he never knew that Nikki had been born a man". That mother and ex-wife should be charged with being ignorant and stupid in the first degree!!! HE KNEW. This is what's wrong with america, ignorance. First, it's none of their business what Nikki is. He obviously loved her regardless. She is due the money. Give it to her and let this man rest in peace. You two should be ashamed of yourselves!!!!

• I think that it is a real shame that the family of the firefighter disgrace their son in this way. Greed is a terrible terrible thing. None of us, including the EX WIFE and his parents, know exactly what went on behind closed doors and who knew what. Who is any one to judge Nikki? How does a sex change make someone a bad person? Why do people insist on showing how ignorant they are by referring to her as a he/she or an 'it'? What happened to "Judge less not we be judged."? I don't know Nikki, but I hope she hangs in there and stays strong. My prayers are with all of them .

• You would think that the large johnson in her pants would have tipped him off earlier.

• SHE'S A MAN..... BABY!!!!

• There is no way he didn't know. It's not like they just got married yesterday or something. I have known Nikki since high school. She has a spotted history, yes, but she was always a wonderful person! I'm so happy to know that she finally found someone to love her like she deserved! I wish her the best!!!

• @psstoff man - You watch too many soap operas.

• Thomas had to know Nikki's past as I know personally that he loved her as she loved him. She was a good wife and mother. I wonder how many people were shocked to hear this news of such a beautiful WOMAN inside and out. @psstoff man - comments like yours are what starts so much controversy. Did you know them?

• @psstoff man! he obviously knew his wife's history. he was probably a happy guy. why assume otherwise?

• What an absolute embarrasement for the Family of this fallen Firefighter, the Department, and the he-she widow!! was his accident his only way out of this nightmare? what I mean is did he see the opportunity to end it in this blaze?

TotalComments: 31