Trans inmate held at men’s prison sues after hormone treatment withheld
By Will Stroude
Reiyn Keohane, a trans prisoner sued the Florida Department of Corrections on Monday (15 August) to demand hormone treatments that she said were promised when she pleaded guilty to attempted second-degree murder.
Keohane says that she’s receiving cruel and unusual punishment because she needs the hormone treatments to avoid depression. She was also forced to stay at a men’s prisons, and because of this has tried to hang herself and attempted to castrate herself, reports WPTV West Palm Beach.
“This treatment is absolutely necessary to my ability to mentally function,” Keohane wrote in one grievance to prison officials.
“Without it I consider self-harm and suicide every single day. It is the only thing that matters in my life in this moment.”
Keohane was arrested in September 2013, one month after beginning hormone treatments. Her decision to plead guilty to stabbing her roommate was motivated by a promise that hormone treatments would continue while she was in prison, according to the lawsuit filed on her behalf by the American Civil Liberties Union.
Keohane was sentenced to 15 years for the attack in Fort Myers.
The Department of Corrections said it hadn’t yet received the lawsuit.
Words: Bryan Bernal
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