Stevie Crecelius, who used to be known as Steve Crecelius, was admitted to a Denver hospital five years ago for treatment of a kidney stone. Doctors told the father of six and husband that he was a woman when the ultrasound results came in. The doctors said that Crecelius is intersex, which is being born with both anatomical sex traits, which prevents anyone from classifying the person’s gender.
“When I was 17, I was working my first part-time job at a TV station as a floor cameraman and the person in charge said to me, ‘You know, you walk like a queer,” Crecelius said. “I thought I was hiding who I was, and I wasn’t.”
It took Crecelius a bit of time before she began wearing women’s clothing out in public. Stevie’s wife, Debbie, mentioned that it was difficult to get used to the change in her husband.
“I didn’t sign on for this, but who signs on for anything?” she said. “She’s the same person she was as a he on the inside.”
The six children of Crecelius have also welcomed the transgender news of their father.
“People need to be accepting and understand,” Stevie said. “I was born this way, and loving each other and supporting each other will always be the main factor in our household.”
A fairly standard Intersex situation.
The legal issues faced by such people are immense. A male birth certificate provides a rebuttable presumption of being male, but not proof. Should the marriage be challenged by a party with standing – say a medical insurance company that doesn’t cover same-sex partnerships, the court would have to make an interesting decision.
A court could rule that he’s a man, based on the presumption that he has XY chromosomes, a presumption that may not be true. Or that she’s a woman, based on the preponderance of her anatomical and psychological characteristics; or neither, so unable to contract any marriage of any kind in 30 states, despite Loving vs Virginia.
It gets worse – some Intersex variations (5ARD, 17BHSD, 3BHSD etc) can cause an anatomical change of sex. Bone marrow transplants change the recipients’ chromosomes, possibly from XX to XY.
The law here is a mess, inconsistent with biological reality.
Take it from me – I have 3BHSD. My legal sex depends not just on jurisdiction, but context.