By Susan Brinkmann, OCDS
Staff Journalist
A male inmate who repeatedly tried to castrate himself in an attempt to become a woman has filed a lawsuit against the state of Virginia, charging them with failure to provide adequate medical care in the form of a sex change operation – a case which could result in forcing taxpayers to pay for the surgeries.
According to the Associated Press (AP), Michael Stokes, 50, who calls himself Ophelia De’lonta, says he needs the surgery to treat his gender identity disorder.
“This is not something that I have any control over,” said Stokes. “This is just how I was born.”
In 2004, a court order allowed Stokes to begin receiving hormones that enabled him to develop breasts. However, other special allowances such as feminine clothing and psychotherapy have not been enough to keep his mind off wanting the surgery.
In October, shortly after a prison guard referred to him as a man, he decided to take matters into his own hands. Using knowledge gained from mail-order anatomy books, he tried to cut off his male organs with a disposable razor blade. He eventually passed out and required 21 stitches to repair the damage.
He is now suing the state, claiming that it failed to provide adequate medical care to him by denying him a sex change operation. He says the surgery is needed to treat his gender identity disorder, a mental illness in which people believe they are born the wrong gender. If he wins, Stokes would be the nation’s first inmate to receive a state-funded sex change operation.
The suit would be an uphill battle as four similar cases have already failed in court. Thus far, inmates in Massachusetts, Wisconsin, Colorado, California and Idaho have sued to receive sex change operation, making arguments similar to Stokes’ in that denial of the surgery violates the Eighth Amendments call for protection against cruel and unusual punishment. A fifth suit, which involves convicted killer Robert Kosilek, who now goes by the name Michelle, is still pending in Massachusetts.
Correctional officials and lawmakers balk at using taxpayer money for sex-change operations which can cost up to $20,000. Lawmakers in some states have passed laws, such as Wisconsin’s Sex Change Prevention Act of 2006, to prevent these abuses of taxpayer money.
Republican Virginia Del. Todd Gilbert has already said he would seek state legislation if Stokes’ lawsuit is successful.
“The notion that taxpayers are going to fund a sex change is just ridiculous,” Gilbert said.
Harold Clarke, who became Virginia’s corrections director last year, told the AP it would be a security risk to allow the surgeries because Virginia’s inmates are housed according to their gender at birth, not anatomy. While Stokes sleeps and showers alone, he is not segregated from male inmates. His lawsuit also asks that he be moved to a women’s prison.
Stokes has been trying to change his sex most of his life. He first tried to castrate himself at the age of 12. By 17, he was robbing banks with the hopes of getting enough money to have a sex change operation. By 18, he was in prison, sentenced to more than 70 years for robbery, drugs, weapons and other charges. He is eligible for parole this year, but because of a wide range of prison infractions, is not expected to be released any time soon.
If he does not receive the surgery, he says he will probably make another attempt to castrate himself.
Church teaching on the changing of one’s sex is clear. In 2000, the Congregation of the Doctrine of the Faith sent out a confidential document which authoritatively concluded that “sex-change” operations are invalid and do not change a person’s sex. The same document instructed bishops never to alter the sex listed in baptismal records and said those who have undergone “sex-change” operations are not eligible to marry, be ordained to the priesthood or enter religious life. The Note explains that an individual’s physical characteristics- which can be altered surgically- constitute only a part of his gender identity. While the body can be changed, a person’s sexual identity cannot.
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Photo of Stokes is by Steve Helber of the Associated Press
