Transgendered Jail Inmate Unhappy

To what extent should the jail make accommodations for this guy who broke the law?

Michelle Labagnara feels anxiety and fear.

She reports to the Dane County Jail today to begin a 10- month sentence, but when she gets there, they will classify her as a male.

That's because Labagnara, 46, of Portage, hasn't yet had the more than $20,000 surgery to transform her from a man to a woman. She says she is a female who was born in a male body. "I grew up terrified to tell people I felt female," Labagnara said. "My mom actually caught me trying to curl my hair. She ripped the curlers out of my hair. I was 7 or 8. She was furious."

She legally changed her name in 2004 from Michael to Michelle, and her driver's license lists her as female. But conflict over her gender identity hasn't subsided. As she prepared to start her jail sentence she doesn't know if the jail will give her hormones she has been taking to make her breasts grow.

Dr. Sue Gill, a Madison psychologist whose transgender patients make up one third of her practice, said Labagnara, if housed with men, "could be facing huge setbacks in terms of her developing sense of self and her improving mental health. I might expect she'd have increasing anxiety and depression above and beyond what someone has if facing 10 months in jail."

Gill added that without special housing, "It seems we're punishing them for who they are in addition to what they've done."

Labagnara is worried that in jail, she will no longer be prescribed female hormones.

Capt. Mike Plumer, county jail administrator, said, "It's up to the (jail) doctor."

Dr. Jeff Patterson, a Madison family practice physician who specializes in treating gender identity disorder, said it's not the end of the world if Labagnara loses access to her medications, but in such cases, breast regression and regrowth of lost body hair can occur.

"This is a big issue when people are incarcerated. I have had several patients who served time. It's always a controversial issue," Patterson said, adding there are two opposing views: "On one hand, this is a medical condition that people ought to be treated for, and it should be continued in prison. On the other hand, this is not a life- threatening condition, and we as a society should not need to pay for these medications while people are in prison."

It is not like he's gong to jail for not paying his parking tickets.

Labagnara pleaded no contest Dec. 15 to a charge of attempting to disarm a Madison police officer, as the officer tried to arrest her on Aug. 7. Labagnara had violated a "no contact" restraining order, by phoning her wife at work from her wife's apartment. The couple, married for 17 years and with two children, are divorcing.

My guess, regardless of in which wing he is incarcerated, taxpayers in Kathy Falk's Dane County will likely end up paying for this guy's hormone therapy.

We must, after all, respect his/her uniqueness as a celebration of diversity. How dare the cruel taxpayers deny him/her elective medical treatment.

Huh.

Who pays for the therapy for his family?

As an aside, the reporter allowing Labagnara to self identify his gender is an interesting take on journalistic integrity.