The complaint names an additional four plaintiffs who have been impacted by the state’s denial of medically necessary care to those in its custody
TALLAHASSEE – The ACLU and the ACLU of Florida filed an amended complaint adding four named plaintiffs to its class action litigation against the Florida Department of Corrections (FDC), challenging its denial of medically necessary gender-affirming care from transgender individuals in their custody. The four additional plaintiffs are Sasha Mendoza, Sheila Diamond, Carter Jackson, and Nelson Boothe.
The lawsuit was filed in October 2024 on behalf of Reiyn Keohane – a transgender woman in the custody of FDC who has been receiving gender-affirming hormone therapy and clothing and grooming accommodations since 2016 - and a class of transgender individuals. Likewise, the additional plaintiffs have all been receiving hormone therapy, clothing, and grooming accommodations or were previously approved for them and were waiting to receive them.
On September 30, 2024, the FDC announced a new policy banning all clothing and grooming accommodations and imposing insurmountable barriers to receiving hormone therapy treatment. At FDC facilities across the state, transgender inmates were informed that their hormones would potentially be cut off, that their clothing and canteen items would be confiscated, and, for transgender women, that their heads would be forcibly shorn if they did not cut their hair. They were given 30 days to comply.
In the amended complaint, the new plaintiffs assert the same violations of their Eighth Amendment constitutional rights as Ms. Keohane and explain the harms they have endured following this abrupt change in FDC’s policy.
“Reiyn, Sasha, Sheila, Carter, and Nelson bravely share their stories to expose the inhumane treatment of trans individuals in FDC custody. Trans people who are denied medically necessary care face serious harm to their mental and physical health,” said Samantha Past, LGBTQ+ rights staff attorney at the ACLU of Florida. “For years, the state has provided our clients and others the lifesaving care they need for their gender dysphoria. Denying people medically necessary care is cruel and unusual punishment.”
“The practice of denying transgender people any opportunity to express their gender identity and live consistent with their gender identity has a name: forced detransition,” said Li Nowlin-Sohl, senior staff attorney at the ACLU’s LGBTQ + HIV Project.
The original lawsuit can be viewed here.
The amended complaint can be viewed here.
