DOJ sues Utah prisons after trans inmate castrates self in protest over delays for ‘gender-affirming’ care

April 4, 2024

The Post Millennial reports that the U.S. Dept. of Justice has filed a lawsuit against the Utah Dept. of Corrections after a male inmate who identifies as a woman castrated himself. The inmate’s self-mutilation was in protest of what the DOJ characterizes as a delay in “gender-affirming care.”

The inmate was diagnosed by prison doctors with gender dysphoria and cross-sex hormones were prescribed some six months later.

The lawsuit alleges that Utah prison officials failed to accommodate the inmates requests for what the DOJ terms “reasonable modifications” to the prison’s sex-based policies.

According to The Post Millennial, those “reasonable modifications” included a transfer to the women’s cell block, requests to be pat searched only by female correctional officers and requests for women’s clothing, makeup and undergarments.

The DOJ complaint states:

“because UDOC failed to provide her equal access to health care services and reasonable modifications for her gender dysphoria to enable her to live consistently with her gender identity (female), Complainant’s distress over the incongruence between her gender identity and assigned sex worsened, leading her to perform self-surgery to remove her own testicles in May 2023.”

The Utah Dept. of Corrections is being sued under Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act and seeks to compel the agency to provide what it calls appropriate services for individuals suffering from gender dysphoria.

The lawsuit also seeks compensatory damages for the inmate.

Photo: top, Credit: The Post Millennial