The Minnesota Department of Corrections (DOC) said today it will transfer the first transgender person to a facility matching their gender identity next week. This is the first such transfer under the agency’s new transgender policy that went into effect in January.

Minnesota now joins ten (10) other states and the District of Columbia in approving transfers to facilities matching an incarcerated person’s gender identity rather than their gender assigned at birth.

An incarcerated transgender woman currently housed at the Minnesota Correctional Facility (MCF) - Moose Lake because of a 2018 drug conviction will be transferred to MCF-Shakopee, Minnesota’s only female prison.

This individual has identified as a woman since 2008 and sued the DOC last year seeking a transfer to MCF-Shakopee and gender-affirming surgery. She is scheduled to be released from incarceration in May 2024.

As part of settling the lawsuit and in accordance with the DOC’s new transgender policy, the DOC has agreed to provide her access to a transgender healthcare specialist to determine if gender-affirming surgery is medically necessary. The DOC will also assist her in obtaining surgery if the specialist determines it is necessary. More than a dozen correctional agencies in other states, including Wisconsin, Illinois, and Kansas, have approved gender-affirming surgery either voluntarily or as part of legal action.

“The DOC is constitutionally obligated to provide medically necessary care for incarcerated people, which includes treatment for gender dysphoria,” said DOC Commissioner Paul Schnell. “Based on the facts of this specific case, the incarcerated person will now have access to the medical care she needs, she deserves, and we have a legal obligation to provide.”

DOC spokesman Andy Skoogman said DOC agreed to pay $495,000, which includes about $250K in legal fees, as part of the settlement. Skoogman said that the DOC is committed to providing supportive and safe environments for people of all gender identities and that the agency’s new policies and streamlined practices reflect that commitment. The policy also aligns with Governor Walz's Executive Order protecting the rights of all people in Minnesota to receive gender-affirming care.

The DOC's policy allows transgender or gender non-conforming individuals to request placement at a facility matching their gender identity. Such requests will be granted unless the requested placement would pose a heightened risk of physical or sexual harm to that person or those housed in the preferred facility.

Other aspects of the policy include the creation of Gender Identity Committees at each facility to review and address requests in a timely manner, including single cell assignments, showering arrangements, and search protocols.

The DOC currently houses 48 transgender people out of a total incarcerated population of just over 8,000.