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Corbett v Corbett
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Corbett v Corbett
Corbett v Corbett (otherwise Ashley) is a 1970 family law divorce case heard between November and December 1969 by the High Court of England and Wales in which Arthur Corbett sought annulment of his marriage to April Ashley. Corbett had known at the time of the wedding that Ashley had been registered at birth "as of the male sex", and had undergone what at the time was referred to as a "sex-change operation". However, after the relationship had broken down Corbett sought to end the marriage, with the grounds for divorce being that as Ashley was "a person of the male sex" the marriage was invalid. Same-sex marriage in the United Kingdom was illegal at the time.
The court held that, for the purposes of marriage, sex was to be legally defined by three factors present at birth that the judge referred to as "biological" – namely chromosomal, gonadal and genital. Any surgery or medical intervention was to be ignored, as were any psychological factors (which were in this case identified with Ashley's "transsexualism"). The judge held that the marriage (which had to be between man and woman) should be annulled. Although the judgment was restricted to a consideration of legal sex specifically within marriage, its reasoning was later applied more widely within England and Wales.
The parties to the case were The Hon. Arthur Corbett, (future 3rd Baron Rowallan), a British aristocrat (the husband), and April Ashley, a model and actress (the wife). Ashley had been registered male at birth in 1935 and had been raised as a boy, but by 1956 was working as what at that time was known as a "female impersonator" in the South of France. In 1960 Ashley underwent sex re-assignment surgery in Casablanca, and became a successful model, photographed by David Bailey for British Vogue.
Corbett and Ashley had met in 1960 and married in September 1963, Corbett doing so with full knowledge of Ashley's history and of the surgery. Within 14 days the relationship had broken down. Ashley's lawyers wrote to Corbett in 1966 demanding maintenance payments, and in 1967 he responded by filing suit to have the marriage annulled. As the case was brought prior to the Matrimonial Causes Act 1973 (which would have allowed divorce after a period of marital separation), other grounds had to be relied upon. Corbett argued that the marriage was null and void on the basis that Ashley had at the time of the ceremony been a person of the male sex; or alternatively that the marriage had never been consummated sexually.
Lord Justice Ormrod, sitting in the Probate, Divorce, and Admiralty Division of the High Court of Justice, heard from a wide range of doctors, with each side calling three leading medical experts to give evidence. The judge noted: "there was a very large measure of agreement between [the experts] on the present state of scientific knowledge on all relevant topics, although they differed in the inferences and conclusions which they drew from the application of this knowledge to the facts of the present case."
All of the medical experts agreed that there were at least four medical criteria to be used in assessing the sex of an individual, namely:
Some of the expert witnesses also included hormonal factors or secondary sexual characteristics.
The judge noted that the medical criteria did not necessarily decide the legal basis of sex determination, but that they were "of course, relevant". John Randell, who had set up the first transgender clinic at Charing Cross Hospital, stated that Ashley was "properly classified as a male homosexual transsexualist", while other witnesses preferred the description "castrated male".
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Corbett v Corbett
Corbett v Corbett (otherwise Ashley) is a 1970 family law divorce case heard between November and December 1969 by the High Court of England and Wales in which Arthur Corbett sought annulment of his marriage to April Ashley. Corbett had known at the time of the wedding that Ashley had been registered at birth "as of the male sex", and had undergone what at the time was referred to as a "sex-change operation". However, after the relationship had broken down Corbett sought to end the marriage, with the grounds for divorce being that as Ashley was "a person of the male sex" the marriage was invalid. Same-sex marriage in the United Kingdom was illegal at the time.
The court held that, for the purposes of marriage, sex was to be legally defined by three factors present at birth that the judge referred to as "biological" – namely chromosomal, gonadal and genital. Any surgery or medical intervention was to be ignored, as were any psychological factors (which were in this case identified with Ashley's "transsexualism"). The judge held that the marriage (which had to be between man and woman) should be annulled. Although the judgment was restricted to a consideration of legal sex specifically within marriage, its reasoning was later applied more widely within England and Wales.
The parties to the case were The Hon. Arthur Corbett, (future 3rd Baron Rowallan), a British aristocrat (the husband), and April Ashley, a model and actress (the wife). Ashley had been registered male at birth in 1935 and had been raised as a boy, but by 1956 was working as what at that time was known as a "female impersonator" in the South of France. In 1960 Ashley underwent sex re-assignment surgery in Casablanca, and became a successful model, photographed by David Bailey for British Vogue.
Corbett and Ashley had met in 1960 and married in September 1963, Corbett doing so with full knowledge of Ashley's history and of the surgery. Within 14 days the relationship had broken down. Ashley's lawyers wrote to Corbett in 1966 demanding maintenance payments, and in 1967 he responded by filing suit to have the marriage annulled. As the case was brought prior to the Matrimonial Causes Act 1973 (which would have allowed divorce after a period of marital separation), other grounds had to be relied upon. Corbett argued that the marriage was null and void on the basis that Ashley had at the time of the ceremony been a person of the male sex; or alternatively that the marriage had never been consummated sexually.
Lord Justice Ormrod, sitting in the Probate, Divorce, and Admiralty Division of the High Court of Justice, heard from a wide range of doctors, with each side calling three leading medical experts to give evidence. The judge noted: "there was a very large measure of agreement between [the experts] on the present state of scientific knowledge on all relevant topics, although they differed in the inferences and conclusions which they drew from the application of this knowledge to the facts of the present case."
All of the medical experts agreed that there were at least four medical criteria to be used in assessing the sex of an individual, namely:
Some of the expert witnesses also included hormonal factors or secondary sexual characteristics.
The judge noted that the medical criteria did not necessarily decide the legal basis of sex determination, but that they were "of course, relevant". John Randell, who had set up the first transgender clinic at Charing Cross Hospital, stated that Ashley was "properly classified as a male homosexual transsexualist", while other witnesses preferred the description "castrated male".