A convicted killer seeking a sex change is entitled, at taxpayer expense, to medical treatment that could lead to gender reassignment, a federal judge in Albany [New York] held yesterday.
U.S. District Judge Lawrence E. Kahn said the state cannot draw a distinction between prisoners who began treatment for a gender identity disorder before incarceration and those who discover their transsexual issues while in prison.
Currently, the state allows prisoners who commenced the process of gender reassignment before they were imprisoned to continue their treatment, but denies that option to inmates who seek to initiate procedures once they are behind bars.
"Surely inmates with diabetes, schizophrenia, or any other serious medical need are not denied treatment simply because their conditions were not diagnosed prior to incarceration," Judge Kahn said.
Is the desire or need to undergo gender reassignment on the same level with diabetes and schizophrenia? In New York, apparently, it is. I have my doubts, though I'll try to keep an open mind. The New York Law Journal reports it here.