Oregon Inmate Denied Sex Change Files Suit

ONTARIO, Ore. — An Oregon state prison inmate filed a lawsuit demanding gender re-assignment surgery after DOC officials denied him medical treatment for transsexualism.

Officials at Snake River Correctional Institution say they are not required to provide hormone therapy or gender re-assignment surgery to the 45-year-old Portland man because neither treatment is medically necessary.

Federal courts have consistently held that the deliberate withholding of necessary medical care from inmates violates constitutional protections against cruel and unusual punishment.

However, DOC officials say they are not required to provide hormone therapy or gender re-assignment surgery because neither treatment is medically necessary.

The Oregon case is one of several medical-treatment lawsuits filed in recent years involving transsexual inmates, experts say.

In 2007, a federal judge ordered Idaho DOC officials to provide hormone treatment to a transsexual inmate until his lawsuit was resolved.

In 2006, Wisconsin lawmakers barred prison officials from providing hormone treatment or gender re-assignment surgery after a transsexual state prison inmate filed suit demanding medical treatment.