Transgender Texas prison inmates can start hormone therapy – LGBTQ Nation

Seriously. "Advocates welcomed the policy change, but raised concerns that the TDCJ process is onerous enough that transgender inmates could have to wait months, even years, to receive treatment."

I'm going to be a class-A asshole.  They are in fucking prison and I have a very harsh view on what prison  should be like.  It ain't like what it is, although I do advocate for job training and education (and no, I don't believe in the death penalty except in extreme, rare cases.)

My gut reaction aside, I am not transgender and I have no clue as to what these inmates face or faced prior to incarceration.  If this is as "conservative" a process as the article states, I am not sure as to what issues may be faced.  Such a learning curve.

A change in Texas prison system policy means transgender inmates who hadn’t started hormone therapy before incarceration can do so behind bars if they go through a thorough process to confirm the diagnosis.

Previously, Texas Department of Criminal Justice policy said only transgender inmates who were already taking hormones when they entered the system could continue to do so, the Houston Chronicle reported Thursday.

TDCJ spokesman Jason Clark played down the change, saying Texas’ policy remained among the most conservative in the nation.

“Offenders are prescribed hormone therapy only after going through a rigorous process that includes being reviewed by a gender dysphoria specialist, an endocrinologist, and having an affirmative diagnosis,” Clark said. “Only then would it be considered medically necessary and require the minimum level of treatment which is hormone therapy.”

Transgender Texas prison inmates can start hormone therapy – LGBTQ Nation