DOJ sues Utah for 'discrimination based on gender dysphoria' of transgender prisoner
Posted 26 days ago
From WWW.FOXNEWS.COM
The Department of Justice (DOJ) is suing the state of Utah, including the Utah Department of Corrections (UDOC), for allegedly discriminating against a transgender inmate who removed his own testicles after suffering from gender dysphoria.
In Monday's announcement, the DOJ claims the state violated the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) by discriminating against the inmate on the basis of the individual's gender dysphoria "by denying her equal access to healthcare services and failing to reasonably modify policies, practices, or procedures where necessary to avoid discrimination." The transgender inmate was unnamed in the court documents.
"People with gender dysphoria, including those held in jails and prisons, are protected by the Americans with Disabilities Act and are entitled to equal access to medical care just like anyone else with a disability," assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke said in a statement Monday. "Delays or refusals to provide medical treatment for people with gender dysphoria can cause irreparable harm, including debilitating distress, depression, attempts at self-treatment and even death by suicide. The Civil Rights Division is committed to protecting the rights of all people with disabilities in our country, including those who experience gender dysphoria — and those rights are not given up at the jailhouse door."
The DOJ claims the UDOC "has also imposed unnecessary eligibility criteria for evaluation and treatment for gender dysphoria for incarcerated persons at UDOC that it does not require for other health conditions."
The filing also says the UDOC denied all the inmate's requests, including modifying pat searches, providing female makeup, clothing and other items in the commissary to match the prisoner's gender identity. Additionally, the UDOC did not "individually assess her housing requests" to be transferred to a women's prison, and denied requests for male-to-female hormone prescriptions, according to the DOJ.... (Read more)
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