Prison inmates are being provided with a wide range of transgender treatments funded potentially with U.S. taxpayer money, according to recently obtained documents from the Federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP).
U.S. prisons are offering inmates transgender care including voice training, laser hair removal devices, surgical procedures such as breast and penis removal, and hormone therapies, according to a June 2023 guidance issued by the BOP that was published by the Heritage Foundation on Nov. 20. The agency told media outlet Just the News that the cost of “medically necessary care” for prison inmates is covered by the bureau’s funds.
Since the guidance states that “gender confirming surgery may be medically necessary” for certain inmates, BOP’s statement suggests that transgender treatments for prisoners could be provided by the agency’s funds.
Speaking to the outlet, Heritage Foundation Oversight Project Director Mike Howell slammed the guidance.
“Prisoners go to jail because they commit crimes and owe a debt to society,“ he said. ”Society doesn’t owe them taxpayer-funded sex changes and things as absurd as facial hair removal treatments.”
“We have been investigating this disturbing prison-to-trans pipeline and have also discovered that transgender prisoners account for a disproportionately high amount of sex crimes. It’s truly revolting what the Biden administration signed us all up to fund.”
According to the guidance, a diagnosis of gender dysphoria is “not necessary” for transgender hormone treatments for inmates.
The “transition pathway” for transgender prisoners states that if an inmate identifies as transgender or non-binary to a BOP staff member, he or she would be referred to a medical provider or a mental health professional for a potential transition.
The professional will conduct an assessment to verify gender non-conformity and “initiate gender-affirming live experiences” within the prison system. If the inmate indicates an interest in “gender-affirming hormone treatment,” he or she would be sent to a medical provider for evaluation.
Once all assessments are completed, the inmate may start “gender-affirming hormone treatment” by choosing a feminizing or masculinizing therapy.
After initiation into the hormone treatment, the inmate can request to live in a “gender-affirming institution.” The inmate’s warden is tasked with sending the request to a Transgender Executive Council for review. If approved, the prisoner will be “designated to the gender-affirming institution (aka institution of the identified gender).”
The document states that prisons housing transgender or gender non-conforming inmates must “develop a multi-disciplinary team” that meets and discusses the “patient’s needs and progress.”
The guidance suggests two “gender-affirming” treatments for such prisoners—minimally invasive and non-invasive treatments, and invasive and complex surgeries.
The former includes voice and communication training and facial hair removal services.
The documents suggest first using razors, hair removal creams, and other such products. If desired results aren’t achieved, it’s recommended that inmates be provided with laser hair removal devices.
Transgenders in the Prison System
The BOP’s updated policies on transgender care in prison came after a 2020 lawsuit filed by an inmate against the prison system.The inmate, Peter “Donna” Langan, was part of a neo-Nazi group and serving life in prison for robbing banks. Mr. Langan filed a lawsuit against the agency after being denied gender transition surgery.
Faced with the lawsuit, the BOP hastened transgender surgeries for Mr. Langan. In late 2022, he underwent surgical procedures and became the first transgender individual to receive such a surgery while in a federal prison.
Mr. Lusk started identifying as a female in 2008 and legally changed his name to Christina in 2018.
Earlier in January, the DOC’s new transgender policy came into effect—it covers medical treatments for people who identify as transgender and allows them to request facilities that match their gender identities.
She blamed the situation on the Biden administration because it has tried to “change the definition of woman.”
There are multiple benefits for men moving to women’s prisons, she said.
“They find themselves then surrounded by women in prisons that are remarkably less secure and locked down than the male prisons are.”
Many of the men who are put in female prisons “are violent, and many of these men have committed crimes against women,” she said.
An Obama-era policy required federal prisons to consider the safety of inmates when deciding where to house transgender prisoners.
The Trump administration rescinded the policy, instead placing transgender inmates in prisons according to their birth sex. But the Biden administration reversed course and brought back the Obama policy.
