ju st o u t ▼ dec e m b e r 0, 1 9 9 6 ▼ 19
I
ori Michelle Buckwalter deeply loves
Sharon Contreras. The Portland couple
will formally honor their commitment
on Dec. 14 when they will be legally
married during a small ceremony.
Two women legally marrying? Impossible,
you say.
Well, hold on. Come their wedding day,
Buckwalter, a preoperative transsexual who has
undergone hormonal therapy for nearly a year, will
still be legally male, though she lives her day-to-
day life as a woman.
In early 1997 the 46-year-old plans to undergo
gender-reassignment surgery and, as Oregon law
permits, legally change her sex to female.
“We will be a legally married lesbian couple,”
says an earnest Buckwalter, who at 6 feet 6 inches,
with platinum blond hair, cuts quite the distin
guishable figure. “It has always been a dream of
mine to be a part of the lesbian community. I know
there are some people who may be judgmental,
there always are, but this is something that I have
always felt and yearned for.”
L
t’s about 4:15 pm on Nov. 15—tax day for
some unfortunates. A line lumbers along in the
Multnomah County Division of Assessment
and Taxation office, where a hodgepodge of
bureaucratic undertakings occur, including the
issuance of marriage licenses.
The willowy Buckwalter, wearing a black skirt
and top and white stockings, and Contreras, dark-
haired and significantly shorter than her partner,
walk into the office to apply for their marriage
license.
They seem a tad giddy, as one would expect
pending newlyweds to be. They appear a touch
nervous, too. After all, who knows how county
employees will react?
Close by is their attorney, JoAnna McNamara,
ready to provide assistance if the division resists
the couple’s request. Donna Red Wing, a longtime
lesbian activist, rolls a video cam. She is warned
several times not to tape anyone applying for a
passport.
“You can only film them,” says a bureaucrat,
meaning Buckwalter and Contreras. “Don’t take
anyone else.” Red Wing swears she is not inter
ested in anything or anyone else.
For her part, Buckwalter has come pre
pared with her birth certificate, which
proves she is still legally male, and thus
entitled to marry a woman if she pleases.
At first things seem to be going
smoothly. The couple fill out the
appropriate paperwork, walk over to
the counter, and present it to the
clerk, a thin older man. For some
unknown reason he disappears,
and a twenty something woman
eventually fills his slot. She
seems ready to OK the appli
cation, treating it like all the
others. That’s when an older
supervisoresque woman
steps in, ponders the
application, and informs
the duo she’s going to
get one of her superi
ors to check it out.
That turns out
to be Kathy Tune-
berg, a county tax
collection man
ager. She walks
over, and McNamara
tells her that Buckwalter is
preop and still legally male and thus
can receive a license. The birth certificate is
inspected.
Not entirely satisfied, Tuneberg asks the
Contreras/Buckwalter party to step into a private
conference room, and proceeds to call county
counsel for its input.
Via telephone, Tuneberg explains the situation,
as does McNamara. County counsel says they’ll
get right back to Tuneberg. They hang up, and
everyone makes quiet conversation. Buckwalter
pulls out a brush and begins stroking her long hair.
A few minutes later, county counsel calls back.
Yes, Buckwalter and Contreras can receive a mar
riage license, but before their $60 registration fee
is processed, Tuneberg says she must receive a let
ter from Buckwalter’s physician stating
Buckwalter will not have gender-reassignment
surgery until after the wedding.
No problem, says McNamara.
Contreras and Buckwalter beam. Each grabs a
comer of the license, and together they hold it up.
They’re smiling. A photo is snapped to memorial
ize the occasion.
uckwalter’s journey toward self-discovery
has taken a lifetime. She moved here from
Pennsylvania five years ago, living life as
Lorin, a man who was already married and the
father of two children.
She has studied martial arts for more than a.
decade, and was a member of the U.S. World
Championship teams from 1988 through 1990.
She is also a certified international instructor of tae
kwon do.
B
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