Tag: Robina Asti

It’s never too late to discriminate

 photo Robina-Asti_CURRENTX400_zps7ad6b395.jpgRobina Asti is 92 years old and has been recognized by the government as a woman for over 30 years.  She transitioned in 1976.  She is a commercial pilot and the FAA has recognized her as a woman ever since they awarded her a license.  She has made a living teaching people how to fly airplanes.  The government issued her a passport designating her to be a woman.  Her Social Security account labels her a woman.

Robina is a WWII veteran, having served as a Navy pilot.  She is currently locked in a battle with the Social Security Administration…which she is losing.

In 2004 Robina married Norwood Patton in Hanger A of Orange County Airport in New York.  Norwood new she was a transsexual woman, but he didn’t care.  Oh, he was upset at first, but he got over it in a week.  He asked her to get married every month for a lot of years.

Norwood died in 2012 at the age of 97.  So Robina asked the Social Security Administration for survivors benefits.  After almost a year of review, she was denied.  

The reason?

[H]er marriage does not meet the requirements under Federal law for payment of Social Security widow’s benefits.  

At the time of your marriage, you were not legally a woman.