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Another Bite at the Apple

Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick’s new prisons commissioner will consider whether to continue to deprive a murderer of his right to state-subsided gender-bending surgery. via Boston Herald:

Prison officials have strenuously opposed a request from Michelle Kosilek to have the surgery, saying it could make him a target for sexual assault by other inmates.

But DOC Commissioner Harold Clarke, who took over the department in November, said he has not decided yet whether to continue to fight Kosilek’s request.

“I need to take a look at the information presented before I arrived, and with a fresh set of eyes, closely scrutinize it,” Clarke said, following a status hearing in U.S. District Court on Kosilek’s lawsuit.

Robert Kosilek was sentenced to life in prison for murdering his wife, Cheryl, in 1990. Kosilek legally changed his name to Michelle in 1993 and has been living as a woman in an all-male prison in Norfolk.

Kosilek first sued the Department of Correction in 2000, claiming its refusal to pay for a sex-change operation violates his Eighth Amendment right against cruel and unusual punishment.

The original AP version of this article refers to Mr. Kosilek as “she,” despite his continuing state of bepenisment, not to mention his Y chromosomosity. It’s a little disturbing, that what is supposed to be a just-the-facts news agency has that much trouble with the basic facts of life. AP’s been on a bit of a jihad for wife-killer Michelle Kosilek. But the funny part is that AP, while refering to this man as “she,” also refers to Michelle’s problem as a “gender identity disorder.” Which pretty much means AP is buying into the insanity.

This will be an interesting case to watch. If the Patrick administration flips on gender-bendation, not only will it provide hope for incarcerated men everywhere who are trapped in women’s bodies and yearning to be sliced free. It also could provide more insight into the kind of thing we might expect from an Obama presidency.

Topics: media, transsexuals

  Posted by Jules Crittenden at 9:26 pm on Tuesday, April 1, 2008

3 Responses to “Another Bite at the Apple”

1. RebeccaH Says:
   April 1st, 2008 at 10:05 pm

   I would expect the major objection to a sex change operation for a murderer is to do it on the taxpayer’s dime. But what do I know? I was born a female, remain a female, married to the same man for 40 years. So straight my pants squeak.

2. saltydog Says:
   April 2nd, 2008 at 4:45 am

   S/he ought to have thought about her/his priorities before s/he committed murder.

3. Don Surber » Blog Archive » Just ask me Says:
   April 2nd, 2008 at 7:48 am

   [...] Democratic Gov. Deval Patrick flip-flops on the lop-off. I am not upset, though, with the AP calling the guy a she. But I do want to know the [...]

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