Thursday, February 28, 2008

Sex-Change Inmate Says Treatment Stopped

Fark headline: "Prisoner who had sex change suing because she's turning back into a man. Specifically, she's turning into Geddy Lee" (Link to google image search added.)

Being quite the Rush fan, I had to look:
aleqm5jv61w75mximivgr9bzctimc3hqxa.jpgA killer who sued to have a sex change claims her body is becoming more masculine again because she's being denied treatment in prison as she awaits a ruling in her bid for the surgery. Michelle Kosilek, formerly known as Robert, said that for months she has not been allowed to have court-approved hair-removal treatment or access to a specialist to discuss her testosterone levels."My breasts have shrunk, genitals have regained previous size and function, facial hair is thicker and scalp hair is thinner, all related to an elevated testosterone level," Kosilek said in a handwritten letter submitted to the court recently.

Robert Kosilek was sentenced to life in prison in the 1990 murder of his wife. Kosilek said the slaying was self-defense after she poured boiling tea on his genitals.

Kosilek, 58, who legally changed her name to Michelle in 1993 and has been living as a woman, first sued the Department of Correction in 2000, saying its refusal to allow her to have sex-change surgery violates the Eighth Amendment protection against cruel and unusual punishment.

In 2002, U.S. District Judge Mark Wolf ruled that Kosilek was entitled to treatment for gender identity disorder — including hormone treatments, laser hair removal and psychotherapy — but stopped short of ordering sex-reassignment surgery.

Kosilek sued again in 2005, saying the treatments were not enough to relieve her anxiety and depression.

"I would not want to continue existing like this," Kosilek testified in June 2006.

The trial lasted on and off from May 2006 until March 2007, with expert testimony from 10 doctors, psychiatrists and psychotherapists. An Associated Press review last year found that the corrections department and its outside health care provider had spent more than $52,000 on experts to testify about the surgery, which would cost about $20,000.

-AP.google

As Geddy Lee sang, "I don't want to face the killer instinct... so I keep it under lock and key."

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