FILE- A sign marks an entrance to the Robert F. Kennedy Department of Justice Building in Washington, Jan. 23, 2023. The Utah Department of Corrections was under fire on March 12, 2024, for discriminating against a trans prisoner who the U.S. Department of Justice claimed was driven to hurt herself because she constantly received no testosterone therapy in contravention of the Americans with Disabilities Act. Patrick Semansky’s photo for THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Post information
The Utah Department of Corrections was criticized on Tuesday for discriminating against a trans criminal who the U.S. Department of Justice claimed was driven to hurt herself after being consistently denied testosterone therapy in contravention of the Americans with Disabilities Act.
A federal investigation revealed that the state corrections office “unnecessary barriers” were imposed to prevent the imprisoned trans person from receiving treatment for severe gender dysphoria. According to the Justice Department report, the person’s emotional problems, which doctors attributed to an incompatibility between her baby sex and her gender identity, significantly worsened while she was incarcerated in a men’s prison.
She underwent a risky self-surgical procedure to split off her own ovaries after nearly two years of fighting for access to hormones and other gender-affirming apartments.
To protect other residents from harm in the future, the DOJ is now pressing for quick policy adjustments and anti-discrimination training for all Utah correctional officers. Additionally, the state agency will be required to pay damages to the transgender criminal, who was not named in the document. As of Tuesday, the dollar volume had not been determined.
The Utah Department of Corrections’ professional director, Brian Redd, refuted the claims and expressed his disappointment with the view of the authorities. He did not specify whether the organization may follow the DOJ’s instructions.
“We have been working on this complex problem and were surprised by the Department of Justice’s news,” Redd said in a speech. “We have even taken steps to meet the needs of residents while upholding the highest safety standards on our own and as a condition.”
According to a federal court decision from 2022, gender dysphoria falls under the ADA definition of disability, meaning that correctional facilities may refuse to provide clinically appropriate care to those who have the condition.
“All people with disabilities, including those who are incarcerated, are protected by the ADA, and they are also entitled to reasonable adjustments and equitable access to medical care,” according to Kristen Clarke, assistant attorney general of the DOJ’s Civil Rights Division.
The investigation by the department found that Utah changes officers had excessively delayed the woman’s hormone therapy even as her mental health deteriorated. She had to abide by a council, which included members with a distinct bias against transgender people, according to Judge Disability Rights Chief Rebecca Bond, who was also required to perform other medical procedures.
Bond criticized the state corrections section for involving both health and non-medical staff despite the committee’s only job being to control requests for health care and called the committee the “gatekeeper” of care.
Federal investigators discovered that they had failed to take simple steps to ensure the patient’s safety when they suddenly approved the detainee for hormone treatment more than 15 months after her first request.
Although taking hormone increases trans women’s chances of developing potentially fatal blood clots in their legs or lungs, it can also help them develop some desired natural features like breasts. Researchers at the Endocrine Society, which represents professionals who treat estrogen conditions, suggest such treatments require nearby medical care.
Utah prisons place incarcerated people in either male or female cover based solely on their sex at dedication, which the DOJ determined is based on a physical examination of the prisoner’s genitalia. The girl repeatedly requested to remain residing alone or with other women, but the investigation determined that all of those demands had been denied.
Federal investigators claim that the jail did not make reasonable lodging to protect her while surrounded by men inmates and employees. The condition agency even forbade her from purchasing bras, makeup, and women’s underwear at the commissary, and ordered female corrections officers to perform pat searches as she also started to develop breasts.
In her ADA issue, she wrote, “The captivity is causing me quite emotional stress by not allowing me this opportunity to live my life as a person, who I believe I am and have lived life for many years.”
