You may now kiss the bride

Andrew and Jessica Blair already share a last name (he took hers) and a home. And in a week, they will be married in the eyes of their God and their government.

Andrew and Jessica are both transsexuals. They met in 1998, had a commitment ceremony at the Wayside Chapel in 1999, and have been hoping for the chance to make their marriage official ever since.

On Saturday 31 May their hopes will become reality, when they are married by an independent bishop of the Ecumenical Catholic Church.

And the marriage will be legal -“ thanks to the recent case of Kevin and Jennifer, a western Sydney couple who successfully challenged the federal government to have their marriage recognised.

Part of the reason I want to get married is it tells your self and the whole world that you’re just an ordinary man or woman, that there’s nothing weird or strange about you, Andrew says.

And the first thing that Jessica said to me was she wanted to do all of the things a woman could do -“ and that included getting married.

That’s the main thing for me, the wedding, Jessica says. To be a bride, to have the flowers and to walk down the aisle.

Elizabeth Riley from the Gender Centre told the Star the Kevin case had created a window for transsexual and transgender people hoping to marry.

The ramifications of this case for the community are really quite immense -“ incredibly groundbreaking. I now hope [the federal government] will accept the decision of the full bench of the Family Court and leave us alone.