(Zerohedge) California is helping prison inmates cope with their stints, having forked over more than $4 million of taxpayer funds on surgical sex changes and cosmetic "gender-affirming" enhancements for 157 inmates, including four who are on death row, the Washington Free Beacon reports
Breaking it down, the state has coughed up:
Over $4 million for vaginoplasties
$180,000 for breast implants
$184,141 on facial feminization surgeries
$224,000 on laser hair removal
The state has spent over $1 million removing the breasts of female prisoners
"People who think they're transgender have rights, and they should be treated with dignity and respect, but it does not include taxpayer dollars being used to do surgeries that are experimental at best and scientifically unjustified at worst," said attorney Harmeet Dhillon, who has represented California inmates.
California's lack of guardrails for trans-identifying prisoners stands in sharp contrast to its rules around inmate dental care, for instance, which don't allow for root canals on back teeth, cosmetic tooth restoration or replacement, or treatment of oral ulcers—among other services.
From 2017 through mid-July 2023, taxpayers have bankrolled at least 157 transgender procedures and treatments, spending nearly $2.5 million on vaginoplasties—the creation of artificial vaginas and vulvas—for 35 male prisoners, according to previously unreported records obtained by women's prison advocate Amie Ichikawa and reviewed by the Free Beacon.
Four people on death row have received sex reassignment surgery.
Meanwhile, corrections officials have requested nearly $2.2 million in new funds just for transgender care, according to budget documents.
