No Sex Change For Prisoner
Michelle Kosilek was born as a man but lives life as a woman. She’s also a convicted killer and is currently serving a life sentence in an all male prison in Norfolk. She’s also just had her request to have a sex change operation denied.
Harold Clarke, spokesperson for the Massachusetts state prison system, said that allowing a convicted killer to undergo gender re-assignment would pose insurmountable safety and security problems for the state prison system. It would put her at greater risk of assault from other inmates. They also think she may try to escape if she’s taken off the prison site for surgery.
According to PageOneQ, Kosilek, who is now 58, was born as Robert but changed his name to Michelle in 1993. He killed his wife Cheryl in 1990.
In 2000 Kosilek sued the Department of Corrections, saying that denying her state funded gender re-assignment surgery violated her constitutional right against cruel and unusual punishment. While the Judge didn’t agree with that claim, he did find that the system hadn’t adequately addressed her gender-identity issues.
Kosilek sued again in 2005. She had been receiving hormones, psychotherapy and laser hair removal – but she said this hadn’t allayed her anxiety and depression.
While the powers that be believe surgery would make Kosilek feel better, they believe that the danger it would put her in is too much of a risk.
All About
Your Thoughts
Hey there, you need to be logged in to get involved with SameSame, click here to login if you're already a member, or here if you need to become a new member.
