{"id":92292,"date":"2019-10-08T04:14:42","date_gmt":"2019-10-08T04:14:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/transgender-prisoners-in-the-west-now-have-tools-for-self-advocacy\/"},"modified":"2019-10-08T04:14:42","modified_gmt":"2019-10-08T04:14:42","slug":"transgender-prisoners-in-the-west-now-have-tools-for-self-advocacy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/transgender-prisoners-in-the-west-now-have-tools-for-self-advocacy\/","title":{"rendered":"Transgender prisoners in the West now have tools for self-advocacy"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

\"The
The 9th Circuit Court of Appeals wrote that in denying Adree Edmo medical services, prison authorities \u201cwere deliberately indifferent.\u201d<\/span>Black and Pink\/Facebook<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

In 2017, Adree Edmo, a transgender woman serving a 10-year prison sentence at the all-male Idaho State Correctional Institution, sued the Idaho Department of Correction and the prison\u2019s health care provider, Corizon Inc. They had repeatedly denied her request for gender confirmation surgery, a procedure that would allow Edmo\u2019s physical body to align with her female identity.<\/p>\n

When asked in court about the conflict between her biological sex and gender identity, Edmo responded, \u201cI feel disgusting, I feel tormented, I feel hopeless.\u201d<\/p>\n

Edmo\u2019s attorney argued that in order to stop these feelings and save her life, her client needed the surgery. In December 2018, the Idaho District Court ruled in Edmo\u2019s favor. Then, this August, a three-judge panel from the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals upheld that decision: Prison authorities \u201cwere deliberately indifferent\u201d to Edmo\u2019s medical needs, they wrote, and that constitutes cruel and unusual punishment and is against the law. Edmo is expected to receive the surgery as soon as possible, though Idaho Gov. Brad Little has said he will appeal the decision to the Supreme Court, which could delay the procedure.<\/p>\n

In addition to changing Edmo\u2019s life, the ruling will expand access to medical care for prisoners across the West. The 9th Circuit\u2019s acknowledgement of gender confirmation surgery as a medically valid treatment could encourage other prisons within its jurisdiction to offer it. Edmo\u2019s case, lawyers say, could serve as a guide for other trans prisoners, and even advance recognition of transgender rights overall.<\/p>\n

Edmo\u2019s fight for gender confirmation surgery began after she entered prison in 2012, where she is serving a sentence for the sexual abuse of a 15-year-old boy when she was 21. Soon after starting her sentence, she was diagnosed with gender dysphoria, a condition where a person experiences discomfort or distress because of the mismatch between their biological sex and gender identity.<\/p>\n

She started hormone therapy, which includes taking estrogen to develop more feminine physical characteristics. But after five years of severe gender dysphoria, two attempted self-castrations and continued denial of gender confirmation surgery by prison authorities, Edmo filed her lawsuit.<\/p>\n

The seriousness of gender dysphoria is well known throughout the medical world, said Erica Anderson, a clinical psychologist who works with transgender patients at a University of California, San Francisco clinic. And Edmo\u2019s self-harm \u201cis not at all unusual,\u201d said Anderson. \u201cI have had children who have taken out shears to try to cut off their penis,\u201d she said. \u201cThis is how horrible gender dysphoria is for some.\u201d<\/p>\n

Not all transgender individuals require surgery; for some, the physical changes less invasive treatments bring are sufficient to help them feel at home in their body. For others, though, the surgery is essential. The ruling in Edmo\u2019s case doesn\u2019t mean that prisons will have to provide all transgender inmates with surgery. However, it does set a precedent that the procedure is medically necessary for prisoners suffering from severe gender dysphoria.<\/p>\n

For lawyers across the country, the 9th Circuit\u2019s decision was a long time coming. For nearly two decades, courts have been battling over the medical needs of transgender prisoners, specifically gender reassignment surgery and hormone replacement therapy. Typically, prison facilities either deny such inmates care altogether or are too poorly equipped to provide it, said Gillian Branstetter, the spokesperson for the National Center for Transgender Equality. The 9th Circuit\u2019s ruling will further help a vulnerable population receive adequate treatment while behind bars.<\/p>\n

However, Little\u2019s plan to appeal to the Supreme Court could change that. In similar cases from the 5th and 1st circuit courts, judges ruled against providing inmates with gender confirmation surgery, creating a split among the circuit courts and increasing the likelihood that the Supreme Court will agree to hear Edmo\u2019s case. That would greatly increase the stakes: If the Supreme Court rules in Edmo\u2019s favor, the decision could extend past the 9th Circuit to the entire nation, but if the ruling is overturned, transgender inmates will lose the precedent it set. The state has until Nov. 21 to submit an appeal.<\/p>\n

In the meantime, prisoners across the nation can use the 9th Circuit\u2019s decision to bolster their own cases. This is a \u201cgroundbreaking decision in this country,\u201d said Molly Kafka, the interim legal director at the ACLU of Idaho. \u201cIt provides a road map as to how other trans prisoners can use this decision to advocate for themselves if they are not receiving medical treatments.\u201d In fact, Kafka said, she has already seen some colleagues analyze pending lawsuits with Edmo\u2019s case in mind. Additionally, inmates with other ailments can use the ruling to support their own medical rights.<\/p>\n

And, according to Kafka, lawsuits like these are bound to influence social views on transgender individuals. \u201cPrisons are part of our society and communities,\u201d she said. \u201cWhen courts uphold the rights and dignity of transgender prisoners, it will have an effect on the public.\u201d<\/p>\n

This article was first published on hcn.org on Oct. 2.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

transforms health care rights for incarcerated trans people<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":92293,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[5737,5736,5814,5735],"tags":[28,561],"naviga_topic":[],"class_list":["post-92292","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-headlines","category-local-news","category-native-american","category-news","tag-headlines","tag-native-american"],"acf":[],"author_name":"dh_admin","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/92292","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=92292"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/92292\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/92293"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=92292"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=92292"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=92292"},{"taxonomy":"naviga_topic","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/naviga_topic?post=92292"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}