This is Part 1 of a three-part series examining why an Indiana judge found taxpayers should pay for an incarcerated man’s transgender surgery. Part 1 explores the inmates’ history, factors that disqualify him from receiving transgender surgery, and contradictions in his psychiatric evaluations. Parts 2 and 3 will evaluate the way corrupt “gender-affirming” operators influenced the judge’s ruling. To skip to Part 2, click here.
Warning: This story would be disturbing in a novel. In real life, it’s downright sickening. Guard your hearts before reading on.
A federal district judge ruled last week that the Indiana Department of Corrections (IDOC) must pay for the “bottom” surgery of a gender confused inmate. The decision effectively blocks an Indiana law forbidding taxes from funding inmates’ transgender surgeries.
The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) sued the IDOC in August 2023 for denying Jonathan C. Richardson’s request for vaginoplasty and an orchiectomy. He is 23 years into a 55-year sentence for murdering his 11-month-old stepdaughter.
Richardson, who goes by Autumn Cordellioné, began taking testosterone blockers and estrogen for “apparent gender dysphoria” in 2020. He has a history of self-harm, including attempting to castrate himself.
In its 2023 suit, the ACLU claimed denying Richardson transgender surgery violated his Eighth Amendment protection against “cruel and unusual punishment” and put him at risk of committing suicide.
District Judge Richard L. Young ruled in favor of the ACLU last week, concluding:
He ordered the IDOC “take all reasonable action” to ensure Richardson gets his surgery.
Indiana Attorney General Todd Rokita plans to appeal the ruling, telling Fox news,
Rokita further reminds citizens that transgender medical interventions make people medical patients for life:
Hundreds of thousands of citizens’ dollars, that is.
Young’s decision is made more galling by the subject — Richardson.
Indiana incarcerated him after the state convicted him of strangling his baby stepdaughter. Richardson didn’t admit to the crime, at first, claiming he had discovered the child unconscious. But the true story didn’t stay buried for long.
Lieutenant James Spence met Richardson between his conviction and his unsuccessful 2003 appeal after an undescribed incident occurred in the prison’s “suicide cell.”
When Spence asked him what he had been convicted of, Richardson replied, “Murder.” After Spence informed him the charge had been reckless homicide, not murder, Richardson replied, “Well, all I know is I killed the little f****** b****.”
Of all the important functions tax dollars serve, I can confidently say paying for the construction of Mr. Richardson’s false vagina should be at the bottom of the list.
For argument’s sake, let’s pretend Richardson wasn’t a convicted child-murderer and transgender medical interventions supported mental health — which evidence suggests they don’t. The facts laid out by Young still suggest Richardson shouldn’t be considered for surgery.
His history of self-harm and violence aside, Richardson is diagnosed with depression and borderline personality disorder, which two psychologists testified these comorbidities made him ineligible for transgender surgery.
Veteran psychologist Dr. Steven Levine further argued Richardson needed more therapy to explore, among other things, “his willingness to manipulate and deceive doctors.”
Young discarded these observations in favor of testimony from a Dr. Randi Ettner, a dissenting psychologist who argued Richardson was a candidate for surgery because he “is currently stable, has not been on any psychotropic medications since 2011, has a high Global Assessment of Functioning, and has recently been noted as being free of any major mental health concerns.”
The Global Assessment of Functioning measures how much a person’s mental health problems effect their daily functioning, from a low of 0 to a high of 100. Richardson scored 72.
This testimony raises more questions than it answers. The ACLU claims Richardson needs transgender surgery because his gender confusion makes him liable to harm or kill himself. But Ettner’s assessment of Richardson — which finds him capable of consenting to surgical castration — finds he is stable and functioning well.
If Ettner’s account is true, why does Richardson need “bottom” surgery at all?
It’s a straightforward question with a complex answer involving corruption and conspiracy.
Intrigued? Click here to read Part 2.
Additional Articles and Resources
The WPATH Files Expose Surgical and Hormonal Experiments on Children
The WPATH Files – Transgender Interventions Are ‘Unethical Medical Experiments’
Do Not Fall for the ‘Affirm Them or They Will Die’ Lie
Judge Up for Promotion Moved Serial Rapist and Pedophile into Female Prison
New Docuseries Paints Chilling Picture of Women Forced to Live with Men in Prison
Lawsuit Filed Against California for Allowing Men Into Women’s Prisons