Who can get married, and to whom?
Since 1996, trans people who have undergone the necessary surgeries and changed their registered sex markers can get married under Singapore law.
A couple can get married as long as, at the time of the marriage, one party is legally male and the other is legally female as reflected on their NRICs or other relevant legal documents, and all other necessary conditions are met.
The relevant portion of the Women’s Charter states:
Avoidance of marriages between persons of same sex
12.—(1) A marriage solemnised in Singapore or elsewhere between persons who, at the date of the marriage, are not respectively male and female is void.
(2) Subject to sections 5, 9, 10, 11, 11A and 13, a marriage solemnised in Singapore or elsewhere between a person who has undergone a sex re‑assignment procedure and any person of the opposite sex is and shall be deemed always to have been a valid marriage.
(3) For the purpose of this section —
While the law makes reference to a person’s registered sex ‘at the date of the marriage’, updating one’s legal sex after the marriage can and likely will have legal implications.
The law is written in this way because of historical reasons. It was intended to facilitate marriages involving a trans person who had updated their legal sex marker prior to marriage, not one who does so after marriage.
In principle, Singapore does not recognise same-sex marriage. This would apply if you, as a trans person, update your legal sex marker and your sex marker is now the same as your partner's. It will also apply if you have yet to update your sex marker, and your partner’s legal sex is the same as your current one.
Here are some possible scenarios to consider:
Getting married after legal transition
A trans man who has updated his legal sex to male can get married to someone whose legal sex is female.
Likewise, a trans woman who has updated her legal sex to female can get married to someone whose legal sex is male.
In these scenarios, the law treats the couple the same as a cisgender heterosexual couple for all intents and purposes.
Getting married without legal transition
If a trans person has not changed their legal sex marker, they will not be able to marry someone who currently has the same legal sex, regardless of any steps they have taken to transition medically or socially. It is, of course, possible to marry someone of the opposite legal sex.
For instance, a trans man whose legal sex is female can get married to someone whose legal sex is male.
Likewise, a trans woman whose legal sex is male can get married to someone whose legal sex is female.
For marriages solemnised at the Registry of Marriages (ROM) or the Registry of Muslim Marriages (ROMM), it is a requirement for the couple to be dressed in ‘suitable attire’. While a trans man whose legal sex is female might be fine in a pantsuit, it is highly unlikely that a trans woman whose legal sex is male would be allowed to wear a dress.
A Government website on marriage states:
ROM: Note that the solemniser may decline to proceed if he or she feels your attire is inappropriate for the occasion. Proper attire includes a shirt and pants or other formal male attire for the groom, and a dress or other formal female attire for the bride.
ROMM: Note that the Kadi/Naib Kadi may decline to proceed if he feels your attire is inappropriate for the occasion. Proper attire includes a dress shirt and pants or other traditional or formal male attire for the groom, and a dress or other traditional or formal female attire for the bride.
For marriages solemnised outside of ROM, this would depend on the discretion of the solemniser.
Getting married overseas is also an option, as marriages solemnised overseas are generally recognised in Singapore (provided, of course, it is not a same-sex marriage on paper) and there is no need to re-register the marriage with ROM or ROMM afterwards.
ROM: Generally, your marriage certificate will be considered a valid document if it was issued by a competent authority of the relevant country or territory, and will be accepted as evidence of a marriage between the parties named in the certificate, unless there is a reason to doubt the validity of the said marriage.
ROMM: If you have solemnised/registered your marriage outside of Singapore, the Registry of Muslim Marriages is not empowered under the Administration of Muslim Law Act (Cap. 3) to register in Singapore a marriage solemnised and contracted overseas. The marriage certificate issued by the authority of the foreign country should be used for your personal dealings in Singapore and subject to the individual agencies' acceptance and requirements. If your marriage is to be registered in Brunei, Indonesia or Malaysia, a Letter of Recommendation from ROMM is required.
Getting married when legal transition is impossible
In rare cases, the Government has been known to exercise flexibility for couples where the trans partner is a citizen of a country that does not allow them to update their legal sex for any reason.
The couple may still be able to get married if the trans partner fulfils Singapore’s criteria for legal sex recognition despite their legal documents from their home country not reflecting the correct sex marker.
Legal transition after marriage
In the event that one party updates their legal sex marker after getting married, there is precedent to suggest that such a marriage could be rendered null and void.
In 2015, a couple solemnised their marriage at ROM. The following year, one of the parties underwent surgery and updated her legal sex to female, making the pair a same-sex couple.
When they attempted to collect the keys to a HDB flat they had applied for as a couple, they were barred from doing so. In 2017, the ROM annulled their marriage on the grounds that they “did not intend from the start to live as one man and one woman”.
While the couple initially sought to challenge the ROM’s decision in court, they eventually dropped the case.
An annulment means the marriage is treated as if it never existed, effectively rendering it invalid from the start. Besides public housing eligibility, a couple whose marriage is annulled would also lose access to other legal rights and benefits associated with marriage, including those related to reproductive rights, housing, taxation and inheritance laws. Matters such as the division of matrimonial assets and decisions on the custody on any existing children may also arise.
However, the legitimacy of existing children will not be affected in the event of an annulled marriage.
The Women’s Charter states:
Legitimacy of children of annulled marriages 111.—(1) Where a marriage is annulled, any child who would have been the legitimate child of the parties to the marriage if it had been dissolved, instead of being annulled, at the date of the judgment is deemed to be their legitimate child, despite the annulment.
(2) The child of a void marriage born on or after 2 May 1975 is deemed to be the legitimate child of his or her parents if, at the date of such void marriage, both or either of the parties reasonably believed that the marriage was valid.
If you are currently legally married and intend to update your legal sex, you may wish to consult a lawyer to better understand the full implications of your specific situation.
Read more about marriage annulment here.
Legal protections beyond marriage
Some of the basic legal protections afforded to married couples can be attained through other means, like privately executed documents and agreements, including:
With those basic documents in place, a trans person who is married can at least ensure that they and their spouse can inherit each other’s estates and retain control over their own financial and medical decisions, even if the validity of the marriage is challenged.
In many cases, the safety net created by extra legal planning will never have to be used. In others, the presence of that extra protection will shelter the trans person and their spouse from emotional trauma and financial loss.
Check out more about these legal protections on the Same But Different knowledge hub: