Judge Sides With Trans Inmate Who Tried to Cut Off Her Own Testicles
Republican officials have proposed legislation seeking to block gender-affirming medical care for minors in their states, while others have argued against allowing transgender women to compete in female sports categories."Transgender people in prison are exposed to horrific rates of abuse by both staff and their fellow inmates, facing physical and sexual assault at much higher rates than their counterparts," the National Center for Transgender Equality says. "Transgender prisoners also face numerous other challenges behind bars, including denials of medical care and lengthy stays in solitary confinement."Following the self-castration attempt, Clark requested medical treatment for her gender dysphoria but was initially denied hormone therapy treatment."Ten months later and after threats of litigation were lodged, the prison physician referred Ms.
Clark to an outside endocrinologist for evaluation and potential hormone therapy treatment," the ruling said."The endocrinologist recommended the prison physician prescribe Ms.
Clark a starter dose of hormone medication and return Ms. Clark for a follow-up appointment in three months. The medication was prescribed, but Ms.
Clark was not returned to the endocrinologist for her first three-month follow-up appointment for 22 months."The ruling goes on to include a number of other claims Clark made relating to medical providers' failure to adequately treat her condition, such as her hormone prescriptions expiring on several occasions and a lack of evaluation for possible surgical procedures.According to the ruling, experts for Clark and the defendants agreed that "Clark has not received adequate treatment for her gender dysphoria since April 2016.""It took years, and this litigation, for DOC officials to refer Ms.
