Taxpayers may have to foot the bill for criminals’ sex-change operations
A federal judge in Boston is on the cusp of deciding whether or not taxpayers will be forced to fund sex-change operations for convicted criminals. In 1990, the plaintiff in the case, Robert Kosilek , was convicted and sentenced to life imprisonment for murdering his wife. Three years into his sentence Kosilek changed his name and appearance and now lives as “Michelle” in an all-male prison in Norfolk, Massachusetts . Robert Kosilek during his trial in the 1990s. Kosilek sued the Massachusetts Department of Correction (DOC) 10 years into his sentence for not adequately treating his gender identity disorder ( GID ). In that case U.S. District Judge Mark Wolf ruled that Kosilek could receive hormonal treatment for his disorder, but he did not permit Kosilek to undergo a surgery that would biologically alter his body to make it look more like a woman’s body. Not happy with this ruling, Kosilek sued the department five years later, this time arguing that the hormonal treatment was i