90 Day Fiancé: The Second Way Viewers were delighted to see Gabriel Paboga propose to Isabel Posada.
Gabe had his father’s blessing, his kids’ blessing, and the audience’s blessing – but Isabelle’s opinion was what really mattered. and she said yes,
Keeping this in mind, they are planning the wedding. And time is flying by on his current trip to Colombia.
There’s just one catch: Gabi is trans, and some of her documentation might not be what she needs.
In a sneak peek clip from Sunday’s Season 4, Episode 11 90 Day Fiancé: The Second WayGabriel Paboga and Isabel Posada sit down for an important consultation.
they are engaged. And they want to get married as soon as possible.
If the deadline is right, they’d prefer to marry Gabe before he leaves Colombia (since he can’t stay indefinitely without documented permission).
To the relief of Gabe and Isabel, the woman meeting them volunteered to alternate between English and Spanish.
Gabriel is familiar in Spanish, but few things — from coming out as trans to proposing marriage — are trickier than making small talk or asking for directions.
Obviously, even legal advice is a bit more complicated than everyday Spanish.
Speaking in both Spanish and English, she then explained what it would take for Gabe to marry as an American in Colombia.
He will need basic identification. And he’ll need his passport.
It is quite simple. If you’re moving to another country and you don’t have both countries, you have bigger problems than not being able to get married.
Oh, and Gabe will also need his birth certificate. Colombian law requires it for a legal marriage.
That said, all told, the process could take a few weeks.
It’s surprisingly short. Gabe and Isabel both wondered if it might take longer.
It’s always nice when international paperwork can move faster.
(There are places where the waiting time to get married is longer than this approval, so that’s great!)
However, just because a local government can process documents quickly doesn’t mean it will be a speedy process. Because yes, there is a catch.
Gabe was quick to note that one of his documents – his birth certificate – may be at odds.
He came out as trans, explaining that his other documents accurately listed his gender, but his birth certificate did not.
It’s a sad reality that, in a world where most people assume almost everyone is cisgender by default, trans people like Gabe sometimes awkwardly have to “come out” to seek legal advice.
When people refer to “AFAB” or “AMAB,” it is the approval of the paperwork, not the gender. Gabe is AFAB—the doctors assigned her “female” at birth, for short.
His birth certificate still shows the same. And some states in the US are easier to accommodate those documents than others.
Unfortunately, Gabe absolutely needs an up-to-date birth certificate in order to marry Isabel. It’s not fair, but it’s one of the little humiliations that trans people have to deal with every day.
The good news is that it’s not a dealbreaker.
Gabe must update his documentation and present his amended birth certificate to the Colombian government.
After that, he and Isabel can be legally married.
There is a hitch.
Gabriel turned over documents dating back a decade, in order to obtain his updated identity cards.
And he didn’t get them back. So his birth certificate is probably in a government file folder somewhere, along with documentary evidence of his transition.
Isabelle worries that this was irresponsible of Gabi. She is right.
Gabe reminds her that this was a decade ago and she didn’t know what to expect. That’s right too.
Now, he worries, it may take month To get an updated birth certificate for him.
That means months before he can marry Isabel too.
This is a major obstacle to his plans. And that means he’ll be spending the first months away from his fiancée and her kids in Florida.
This is not what he wanted. And it’s not fair either. But Gabe and Isabel can make it through this.