Corbett (the husband) had known at the time of the wedding that Ashley (the wife) had been registered male at birth and had undertaken sex-reassignment surgery.
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.
Holding that Ashley had been born and continued to be a biological male – a fact that could not be changed by surgery – the judge held that the marriage (which had to be between man and woman) should be annulled.
Arthur Corbett, (future 3rd Baron Rowallan), a British aristocrat (the husband), and April Ashley, a model and actress (the wife).
[1] In 1960 Ashley underwent sex re-assignment surgery in Casablanca, and became a successful model, photographed by David Bailey[2] for British Vogue.
[5] The judge held that for the purposes of marriage, sex was to be legally defined by only the first three factors listed above, which he called 'biological' – namely chromosomal, gonadal and genital.
[7] As a result of the decision in this case, alternative ways to achieve amendment of birth records for transsexual and intersex people ceased in England and Wales until the introduction of the Gender Recognition Act 2004.
Academic and LGBTQI+ advocate Zoë Playdon suggests that the decision in the Forbes case shows "there is apparently no reason why the benefits its precedent provides – a corrected birth certificate and equal civil status – should not be enjoyed by everyone else in the UK who like him has been born with the condition of transsexualism.