An inmate who
castrated herself with a disposable razor blade after
prison officials refused to treat her for gender identity
disorder should have female hormone therapy paid for
by the state, a federal judge said.
Jenniffer
Spencer, who was born biologically male, sued the Idaho
Department of Correction and its physicians, claiming that
her constitutional rights were violated and that she
was subjected to cruel and unusual punishment when the
doctors failed to diagnose gender identity disorder
and treat her with female hormones. Instead, the
department and its doctors repeatedly offered Spencer the
male hormone testosterone.
A trial over the
lawsuit has not been scheduled, but U.S. district judge
Mikel Williams ruled Friday that the state must provide
Spencer with psychotherapy and estrogen pending trial.
Williams also noted that Spencer is scheduled for
release in two years, and that getting the lawsuit to
trial could take that long or longer.
The state's
attorneys contend that prison doctors did not find
conclusive evidence that Spencer, 27, has gender
identity disorder. It would be unethical for the
doctors to prescribe a drug that wasn't needed and that
could do harm, attorney John Burke said.
The judge
disagreed.
''There is no
evidence before the court that female hormones have, in
fact, proved harmful to male subjects who are no longer
producing testosterone,'' Williams said.
Other transgender
inmates are already receiving female hormone therapy,
the judge said, and so the state is able to handle any
special concerns that might arise if Spencer were
given estrogen.
Correction
department spokesman Jeff Ray said Monday that the agency
could not comment until it considered the implications of
the ruling.
Spencer, who
changed her name from Randall Gammett after she was
imprisoned in 2000 for possession of a stolen car and
escape, had lived full time as a woman and took birth
control pills in an attempt to develop the secondary
sex characteristics of a woman.
But she didn't
tell correction department officials that she believed she
had gender identity disorder until September 2003, when she
learned the state had a policy detailing treatment
options for transgender inmates.
She contends the
department ignored some 75 requests she submitted for
gender identity disorder treatment. Instead, prison doctors
diagnosed a nonspecific sexual disorder, then bipolar
disorder.
In August 2004,
Spencer tried to hang herself in her cell but survived.
Two months later she tried to castrate herself, failing in
the first attempt but succeeding 10 days later.
The judge ruled
that Spencer has a fair chance of winning at trial.
''While
defendants seem to have identified the fact that plaintiff
has a significant mental health issue regarding gender
identity or confusion, there is little in the record
to show that they have provided adequate psychotherapy
or other counseling to address that issue. Rather, they
seem to have consciously disregarded it,'' Williams said.
Shannon Minter,
legal director for the National Center for Lesbian Rights
and an attorney for Spencer, said his client was pleased by
the ruling.
''It got her the
relief which she so urgently needed without any further
delay,'' Minter said. ''The decision is just so
overwhelmingly positive that we are very hopeful the
department will now work out a settlement with us
without insisting on going forward with an entire trial.''
(Rebecca Boone, AP)
