Kentucky attorney general finds no requirement to use tax dollars to pay for inmate gender surgeries

FRANKFORT, Ky. — Kentucky is under no legal requirement to use taxpayer money to cover the costs of gender-affirming surgeries for people incarcerated in state prisons, Attorney General Russell Coleman said Thursday. The Kentucky Department of Corrections requested the opinion from the state’s Republican attorney general as the agency amends its administrative regulations regarding medical care for people in prison. Chris Hartman, executive director of the Fairness Campaign, a Kentucky-based LGBTQ+ advocacy group, said the attorney general’s opinion was “disappointing but predictable.” “All inmates get medically necessary care — whether it’s for cancer, diabetes or any other condition,” Hartman said in a statement. When in the custody and care of the state, it is federal law for inmates to be given health care when it is medically necessary, which gender-affirming surgery sometimes is for transgender inmates.” The issue surfaced at a recent legislative committee meeting as the corrections department attempts to update rules to broaden accommodations for transgender people in prison to comply with federal standards.