Appellate court to hear transgender inmate’s surgery lawsuit

The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals will hear arguments Thursday in a lawsuit brought by a transgender inmate who wants the Idaho Department of Correction to provide her with gender confirmation surgery.

A federal judge in Idaho ordered the Idaho Department of Correction to provide the surgery to inmate Adree Edmo earlier this year, saying that medication alone was not enough to treat her severe gender dysphoria and that denying the surgery amounted to cruel and unusual punishment.

But the Idaho Department of Correction appealed the decision, with state officials contending that the prison’s medical professionals say non-surgical methods would be the best way to treat Edmo’s condition.

A three-judge panel from the 9th Circuit will hear arguments in the case Thursday morning in San Francisco.