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Published: May 8, 2007

One way to get around the ban on same-sex marriage

California “lesbian couple” raises eyebrows even among their own when one of them decides to undergo sex-change surgery

A Hayward couple, Diane and Jacob Anderson-Minshall, are queer even in the LGBT “community.” Besides being co-authors of a lesbian murder thriller, Blind Curves, published by the lesbian-themed publisher Bold Strokes Books, their own relationship is not easily defined. Is it lesbian heterosexualism or heterosexual lesbianism?

For, Jacob, once a man trapped in a woman’s body, is now, presumably a woman transformed into a man. But for many years Jacob was Susannah, and she and Diane met 17 years ago at a gay pride parade in Boise, Idaho. Up until about 13 years, they were a lesbian couple; but four years ago, Susannah underwent the treatments and surgeries to maker her a “he.” Now, said the May 1 Oakland Tribune, “the two share their lives in Hayward as transgender man and lesbian wife.”

When she dealt with transactions in the past, Diane said she "would say Susannah was my wife, and they'd tell me she would have to contact them." But “now I say Jacob is my husband and it's immediately accepted."

Jacob, it seems, never was really a lesbian, for when he (she?) was a little girl, she thought she was a little boy. “Eventually, he channeled the confusion into becoming a lesbian,” said the Tribune. But after the “transgender” process, Jacob does not call himself a “straight” man but a “transgender” man who feels at home in the LGBT community.

Diane Anderson-Minshall, who edits the lesbian Curve magazine, said she was once “an old-school lesbian” who opposed women transgendering to men. An August 20, 2006 New York Times article detailed how many lesbians consider transgendering as treason to lesbianism. It is “going over the other side.” The lesbian Michigan Womyn’s Music Festival even bans transgendered men and women from attending.

Transgendering has broken up lesbian relationships. When Sharon Caya of San Francisco became Shane, her lesbian lover, Natasha, couldn’t take it. “I am a lesbian because I am attracted to women, and not to men," she told the Times. When Natasha became pregnant with donor sperm, Sharon decided she wanted to be her/himself. “I wanted the baby to know me as I truly am,” Sharon, now Shane, said. But Natasha decided to end the relationship. “You’re in love with a person, but there is something about gender that is so central to identity it can be overwhelming if the person changes,” she said. Though separated, both Shane and Natasha share custody of the child.

Transgendering it seems, however, has one side benefit for lesbian couples -- presuming they are still lesbian. According to the Times, since Susannah became Jacob, the Anderson-Minshall’s marriage is recognized by the state of California. They celebrated their nuptials March 19, 2006, said the Times.

© California Catholic Daily 2007. All Rights Reserved.