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**A Minnesota transgender inmate wins a historic lawsuit against the Department of Corrections, resulting in a transfer to a women’s facility, surgery, and a $495,000 settlement.**

In a groundbreaking decision, a Minnesota transgender prisoner will be transferred to a women’s prison and undergo a vaginoplasty following a discrimination lawsuit against the state Department of Corrections (DOC). The inmate, Christina Lusk, 57, is set to transfer to the Shakopee women’s facility soon, marking the first time a Minnesota inmate has been relocated due to gender identity.

The settlement, revealed last week, includes $495,000 worth of financial compensation for Lusk, with roughly $250,000 allocated for legal expenses. Moreover, the Minnesota DOC will strengthen its policies for transgender inmates, addressing medical treatment and allowing transgender or gender non-conforming individuals the right to request a facility matching their gender identity.

Lusk expressed hope that the settlement would lead to positive change, and that nobody else would have to experience the same challenges. She started taking cross-sex hormones in 2009, had “top surgery” prior to detention, and was almost scheduled for a vaginoplasty before her arrest.

However, the DOC’s medical director, James Amsterdam, refused to allow Lusk to receive genital surgery while in custody, prompting a grievance filed by Gender Justice on her behalf. The lawsuit claimed Lusk was sexually abused by male inmates at Moose Lake and demanded she be treated as female and moved to a women’s facility.

**The landmark case sets a precedent for the fair treatment of transgender prisoners, paving the way for much-needed policy changes and ensuring future inmates don’t have to suffer the same hardships as Christina Lusk.**

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