[JURIST] US District Judge Jon Tigar [official profile] for the Northern District of California issued a decision [opinion, PDF] on Thursday ordering the California Department of Corrections to grant a transgender inmate’s sex reassignment surgery. Michelle-Lael Norsworthy began living as a woman in the 1990s while in state prison, where she was later diagnosed with severe gender dysphoria. Ms. Norsworthy received counseling and hormone therapy from the department of corrections, but her request for sex reassignment surgery (SRS) was denied by the department, who cited a policy against approving SRS as a treatment for transgender inmates. Ms. Norsworthy brought a suit seeking a preliminary injunction, which would require the department of corrections to grant her request for SRS. In his decision, Judge Tigar stated that the California Department of Corrections violated Eighth Amendment [text] protections against cruel and unusual punishment, and the Equal Protection clause within the Fourteenth Amendment [text]. Should the Department of Corrections comply with the court order, Ms. Norsworthy would be the first inmate to undergo the SRS procedure.

The fight for LGBT rights is currently hotly contested and extremely salient. Last week the Indiana Senate approved a “religious freedom” bill [JURIST report, SB 101] that allows business owners to turn away patrons based on sexual orientation for the purpose of preventing undue burden on business’ owners religious beliefs. Earlier this month the Oregon and Iowa [legislative materials] legislatures passed [JURIST report] measures that would prevent health care professionals from providing counseling intended to change a persons sexual orientation, also known as “conversion therapy.” The day before, a transgender inmate from Massachusetts filed a petition [cert. petition, PDF] for certiorari to the Supreme Court [official website], asking [JURIST report] a ruling that denied her the ability to obtain SRS to be overturned. While Utah lawmakers proposed [JURIST report] a bill [text] earlier this month that would add protections against LGBT discrimination in the workplace and housing, the Arkansas legislature passed [JURIST report] a bill [SB 202] that prohibits such protections to be utilized.