Transgender inmate seeking sex change granted parole

A California prison inmate seeking a state-funded sex change operation was granted parole on Thursday. Hours after that decision came down, a federal appeals court delayed her sex reassignment surgery.

The two decisions make it less likely that the inmate, who goes by Michelle-Lael Norsworthy, will receive the surgery she is requesting before she is released from prison.

Norsworthy has served 28 years in Mule Creek State Prison, a men’s prison, for second-degree murder. She was born a man but identifies as a woman. The state panel ruled that she is not a danger to society and should be freed.

She was seeking sex reassignment surgery at taxpayers’ expense, saying it is crucial to her emotional health. After she was granted parole Thursday, the question arose: will she be in a race against time to get the surgery before she is released? But that question was not pondered for long, because the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals delayed the surgery hours after she was recommended to be paroled.

The court decision came as a result of an appeal filed by the State Department of Corrections.

State officials had also contended that Norsworthy recently delayed parole hearings so that she could get the surgery while in prison. Estimates for the cost of this surgery have ranged as high as $100-thousand dollars.

Norsworthy, who is 51, had been scheduled for the surgery on July 1, but the appellate court has delayed the operation while it considers her case, and that process could take months.

As for Norsworthy’s parole, the State Board of Parole Hearings has 120 days to review the recommendation. If they accept it, it is up to Governor Brown to approve it.