by Hope Darby

Created on: May 21, 2008   Last Updated: July 14, 2008

The recent controversy of federally-funded gender-reassignment litigation has one major point against it: the people in question are prisoners. Prisoners, by sheer dint of being prisoners, should not be entitled to gratis luxuries that are not even available to free citizens of the United States.

The American taxpayer funds prisoner education, workout facilities, entertainment, housing, food, medicines for real illnesses, and even income via work programs within the prison itself. These days, it almost pays to commit a crime and be sent to prison. Free college education, free cable and Internet access, free gym membership - all benefits of committing crimes. The more heinous the crime, the longer you get to live off of the taxpayers' bounty.

While I completely acknowledge gender reassignment as being a valid psychological need, I also acknowledge that it is not a life-threatening condition. Prisoners are not allowed elective surgeries while incarcerated (and rightly so!), because they are not necessary for the continuation of their lives. Again, I understand that such a procedure could be deemed necessary for a person's psychological well-being, but quite frankly, that's not my concern. That should not be the concern of the legal system, either.

Prisoners are fully permitted to present themselves as a different gender while in jail. In fact, my father is a prison guard who, on his first day of work, was astonished to see a woman standing in line with the rest of the inmates. She wore makeup, had her hair up in a ponytail, and had every mannerism of a female. When he asked a fellow guard to explain, the guard laughed and assured my father that the woman was indeed a man with female gender identification.

I will gladly pay to keep a prisoner alive and healthy. New heart? Zip one into him. Need a liver? By all means. Want to change your penis into a vagina? That's where the line must be drawn. If a prisoner wishes to undergo this type of surgery, I am more than happy for the government to let them have it - at their family's expense. We do not fund any other form of cosmetic or elective surgeries, such as breast enhancement, liposuction, gastric by-pass surgery, or LASIK. Were the American government to insist upon one elective surgery to be given to an inmate, where would it stop?

Keep prisoners alive and keep them healthy. Beyond that, there is absolutely no justification for dipping into taxpayer money for their elective procedures. And contrary to what many people in favor of this ridiculous debate seem to think, if a procedure is not necessary to the continuation of a person's life, it IS elective. Plain and simple.

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