Judge's decision 'normalizes' transgenderism

Judge's decision 'normalizes' transgenderism
Family values group criticizes ruling taxpayers must fund treatment

A family values organization is criticizing a judge's ruling that taxpayers must pay for a sex-change treatment for a state prison inmate.

According to Associated Press reports, the inmate, Randall Gammett, demanded a name change to Jenniffer Spencer while in prison, as well as various treatments.

The inmate, in jail for possession of a stolen car and escape, believes "she is a woman trapped in a man's body," according to the report, and "castrated herself using a disposable razor blade" in a prison cell when state prison physicians declined to prescribe estrogen.

The inmate then filed a lawsuit against the Idaho Department of Correction, alleging a violation of constitutional rights for that refusal.

Now Judge Mikel Williams, of U.S. District Court, ordered the state to provide the inmate with psychotherapy and estrogen pending a trial.

Bryan Fischer, the executive director of the Idaho Values Alliance called it judicial activism "at its worst."

"Judge Williams has taken it upon himself to normalize transgenderism, and is forcing Idaho's taxpayers to subsidize a twisted approach to resolving gender identity disorders," Fischer said.

"This inmate is obviously severely conflicted, but he is a male in every single cell of his body. If any taxpayer dollars are going to be spent on his therapy, they should be spent helping him to embrace the sexual identity he was assigned at birth," he continued.

Spokesman Jeff Ray of the state prison system told AP officials were considering the ruling, and those promoting homosexuality and lesbianism were pleased.

But Fischer said the ruling now means Idaho taxpayers are "complicit" in the judge's decision to consign the inmate to a lifetime of sexual confusion.

"Whether transgenderism ought to be normalized, and whether taxpayer dollars should be spent in futile attempts to turn males into females, are decisions that should be made by Idaho's lawmakers, not by unelected and unaccountable judges," he said.

State officials said the inmate, who was in prison from 2000 to 2003 before revealing the demands for treatment, was not found by prison physicians to have a gender identity disorder, so it would be unethical to prescribe an unnecessary drug.