On the same hand, feminized men in male housing units invite tremendous challenges to custody for their protection as well. Those men are vulnerable to the other inmates, at risk for rape, violence, and objectification. Don’t even start with the prevention concept of STD’s, HIV, HEP C in jails and prisons Those same trans-gender inmates find find themselves in powerful positions for the elicit trade and prostitution market. Depending both on what they are willing to do, and how they perceive themselves as victims, or even unwillingly accept that victim role simply to survive.

My belief is if someone has gone the full mile to obtain a full trans-gender surgical procedure, and can make the full adjustment to the assigned gender in all ways, they should be assigned to their new gender housing. End of Story.

Feminized men must be placed in protective custody, and watched very carefully for signs of victimization and elicit trade. It is not ideal by any means.

I have also been called to testify as to why the service I represent would not provide hormone injections for a male to female inmate. He was in fact on oral hormones, and as some of the nurses I work with stated “His breasts are bigger than mine” In this case, he was headed to prison, and was fighting to get on the injectable drug was IMHO to more or less pave the way for the same treatment in prison. Now it may be different in California Prisons, I think that lawsuit has been won, and that Trans-gender Disorder is in the DSM-IV, and the treatment prescribed is in fact hormone treatment.

Because my primary concerns are for the patient, with the dwindling budget I manage, I often have to juggle opposing beliefs within myself. In this case I clearly had to think through what the objectives were for my service, the costs to the community I serve, the patients actual versus percieved needs and what constituted an urgent or emergent condition, and act accordingly. In court I did not support his receiving injectable medicine. And to this day, I do feel that was the appropriate opinion for me to render.

After the court appearance, a nurse came to me and told me of a conversation with the inmate. She had asked him why he wanted the injectable medicine so badly, as the oral medicine seemed to be working fine. He was by the way, in protective custody and there was a fight between two men over ‘him’ and he had been providing sexual favors even in PC. HE told the nurse “I want to lactate, isn’t that what real women do?”