Judge Orders State to Resume Hormone Therapy for Trans Prisoner

On Friday, an Ohio judge ordered the state to permanently continue a transgender woman's hormone therapy while she is incarcerated.

After being denied her hormone therapy in 2012, transgender prisoner Whitney Lee filed suit against the Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction, asking for an order that required the organization to resume her treatment on a permanent basis.

Lee, 36, who is serving out the final seven months of a three-year sentence on forgery and theft charges, claims that after having prison officials denied her the doctor-prescribed hormone treatment, she lost breast tissue, began to grow facial hair, that her skin became rougher, and her voice deepened.

The state claimed that Lee didn't meet the criteria for a gender dysphoria diagnosis, and therefore, wasn't entitled to medical treatment.

Additionally, Lee is seeking $75,000 in damages from the state as a result of being denied medically necessary treatment for nearly two years. This matter has not yet been resolved.