Trans Woman Victorious in Bucks County
![Angela Giampolo with Christine Kitzler, used with permission.](https://cdn10.phillymag.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/AG.png)
Angela Giampolo with Christine Kitzler. Used with permission.
Christine Kitzler, a 48-year-old trans woman, has reigned victorious in a case over her own gender confirming surgery which was scheduled to take place at well-known Bucks County gender wellness clinic. The woman’s parents filed an injunction with local authorities on the eve of her surgery, claiming that she was “incompetent” and “unable to make decisions for herself.”
Ms. Kitzler was scheduled for surgery on September 1st by Dr. McGinn at the Papillon Center, a respected clinic in New Hope. Giampolo Law Group, which handled Ms. Kitzler’s case, claimed that on the evening of August 31st, Ms. Kitzler’s parents “filed the injunction… at Bucks County Justice Center in Doylestown, PA” asking to become Ms. Kitzler’s “emergency guardian.”
I spoke with attorney Angela Giampolo last evening, who told me, “If this were any other kind of elective surgery, we wouldn’t be talking right now,” and added that it has been difficult to comprehend “the fact this is happening in our own backyard.”
A report from the Associated Press late this afternoon indicated that “Christine Kitzler’s parents said she was incompetent and needed to have a guardian appointed, but Judge C. Theodore Fritsch Jr. said they failed to provide clear and convincing evidence of that. He also rejected their request for an independent medical exam.”
Giampolo took to Facebook about an hour ago and posted the following:
“We won!! After a brutal 5 hour hearing…Christine was victorious! And after all this, she ended her testimony by looking at her parents and telling them she hopes one day that they will be close and that they will call her Christine; but until then she needs space from their toxicity. Love always wins.”