Minnesota transgender inmate sues after being refused surgery in prison

A Minnesota transgender inmate filed a lawsuit alleging discrimination by the state Division of Corrections (DOC) partially as a result of it’s deferring intercourse reassignment surgical procedure.

Christina Lusk, 56, who’s serving a sentence till 2024 for felony drug offense on the Minnesota Correctional Facility in Moose Lake, Minnesota, claims to be “socially, medically, and legally” feminine however alleges the DOC has failed to acknowledge it, in line with the lawsuit.

The St. Paul-based advocacy group Gender Justice filed the swimsuit on Lusk’s behalf, naming the DOC, in addition to Commissioner Paul Schnell, Deputy Commissioner Michelle Smith and Medical Director James Amsterdam. Schnell, Smith, and Amsterdam serve on the DOC’s transgender committee, which hears requests from transgender prisoners within the state who need to switch services.

The swimsuit seeks a minimum of $50,000 in monetary compensation and seeks a “everlasting obligatory injunction” requiring that Lusk, who’s legally acknowledged as feminine, be handled as a girl and faraway from the men-only correctional facility at Moose Lake.

Lusk claims to have been sexually abused by and to have skilled discrimination from the male inmates and positioned in “direct line of fireside for violence.”

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After starting cross-sex hormones in 2008, Lusk modified names in 2018 and was reportedly conferring with docs about surgical choices earlier than getting arrested in 2019. The inmate had undergone “high surgical procedure” earlier than going to jail, and was reportedly “on the verge of scheduling” a vaginoplasty.

After reviewing Lusk’s case, DOC Medical Director James Amsterdam decided that Lusk shouldn’t be allowed to obtain genital surgical procedure, however “might pursue that after launch,” in line with the lawsuit.

Lusk “filed a grievance with the DOC searching for vaginoplasty” in 2019, writing within the grievance: “I’ve been identified with extreme Gender Dysphoria. I’ve tried suicide 4 instances as a consequence of my extreme misery brought on by my GD in addition to self mutilation. My psychological capability is underneath management, and I’m able to make good selections so far as surgical procedure. I’ve letters of assist from my major doctor, my gender specialist, my therapist, in addition to my psychiatrist, solely two letters are required for surgical procedure however I’m going up and past what’s required.”

The lawsuit additionally alleges that DOC decides the place to put inmates based mostly on genitalia as a substitute of a medical or authorized foundation, which it claims is “in violation of the Minnesota Human Rights Act, the Minnesota Structure and the [federal] Jail Rape Elimination Act.”

The DOC’s transgender committee beneficial that Lusk be positioned in single-cell or dormitory housing and be given the choice to bathe alone, however the lawsuit mentioned that Lusk was housed with as much as seven males at some instances. Lusk filed a grievance with the Minnesota Division of Human Rights in 2020.

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“Transgender individuals disproportionately face abuse and harassment in state establishments together with jails and prisons, faculties, healthcare services, and extra,” Jess Braverman, authorized director at Gender Justice, mentioned in an announcement asserting the swimsuit, in line with the Star Tribune.

An individual holds up a flag throughout rally to protest the Trump administration’s reported transgender proposal to slender the definition of gender to male or feminine at beginning, at Metropolis Corridor in New York Metropolis, on Oct. 24, 2018.
(REUTERS/Brendan McDermid/File Picture)

“Each individual in custody deserves to be protected against violence and harassment,” Braverman continued. “We want our methods, such because the [Minnesota] Division of Corrections (DOC), to do higher now to guard all susceptible teams, together with transgender individuals.”

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In an announcement, the Minnesota DOC advised the Star Tribune that it’s “dedicated to making sure the security and well-being of transgender incarcerated people” and defined that it considers lodging for transgender inmates on a case-by-case foundation.