Though many transgender folks are allowed the opportunity to marry, generally prior to transition, legal matters such as marriage are not without complications.

The marriage equality debate that has been going on leaves us with a question of who is to define what is a man and what is a woman. If Bush is ever to implement his constitutional amendment stating marriage is only between a man and a woman, will he word it to also exclude transgender folks? This would then further complicate transgender marriage. It may also further confuse definitions of sex, as well as gender, in defining how we determine sex. Should we now do genetic testing prior to each marriage license in order to make sure that the marriage is between one person with XX chromosomes and one with XY chromosomes? Or do we go by biological birth, i.e. genitalia as it is viewed when one is about to enter the world, regardless of XX or XY chromosomes? This is generally how an "M" or an "F" is currently decided upon for the category of sex on a birth certificate, which begs the questions how many women are genetically born women under these definitions and how many men are genetically born men? Perhaps we should just use the cultural definition of societies expectations of what it is to be male or female. It leaves one to wonder if marriage for transsexual and intersexed people will be legal in any case.

In order to fully understand what is transgender, I have included a section on terminology defining all aspects of sex, gender and identity.