HOUSTON – The attorney for the ex-wife of a fallen Wharton county firefighter held a press conference in Houston Friday.
Thursday's major decision could essentially open the door for transgender marriage in the state of Texas, but lawyers on the other side of the case are saying 'not so fast.'
"I need some champagne," Nikki Araguz Loyd said after the 13th district court of appeals in Corpus Christi handed down the ruling on Thursday.
Araguz Loyd is the transgender widow of firefighter Thomas Araguz who died in the line of duty on July 4, 2010.
In 2011, a state district judge declared their marriage void but Thursday's ruling overturned that decision.
"I could not say how the last... how painful so many of the last few years were, but I'm so thankful that it was all for a purpose," Araguz Loyd said.
Araguz Loyd's legal fight is far from over.
On Friday, lawyers for Thomas Araguz's first wife, Heather Delgado, whom he divorced, pointed out Thursday's ruling also sends the case back to court to decide a crucial point.
"They said send it back to the trial court and actually do a trial on it and show all the facts to get a determination at trial what the gender of Nikki is," Frank Mann, Delgado's attorney, said.
Millions of dollars in benefits and other money are potentially at stake in this case, lawyers said.
Both sides said they are willing to go to the U.S. Supreme Court to settle the issue.