Fort Worth federal prison to begin hormone therapy for transgender inmate | Fort Worth Star-Telegram

In what is believed to be the first female-to-male transition in the federal prison system, an inmate at the Federal Medical Center, Carswell, has been given approval to begin hormone therapy.

That’s just the first step that inmate Marius Mason, 52, will have to take before completing the transition from female to male, according to his attorney, Moira Meltzer-Cohen.

“He does want the full gender re-assignment,” Meltzer-Cohen said Friday. “He will have to be on hormones for at least a year and then be re-assessed before doing top surgery and re-assessed again before doing bottom surgery.

“We’re talking about something that will happen years from now.”

Bureau of Prison officials declined to comment on or confirm Mason’s situation, stating that an inmate’s health information is not public information.

Mason was convicted of arson in 2009 and sentenced to 22 years in prison for burning down a Monsanto laboratory on the Michigan State University campus in 1999, Meltzer-Cohen said.

Doctors at FMC Carswell, which houses about 1,400 female inmates of all security types who are medically needy, are in the process of procuring the medications Mason will need to develop male characteristics, Meltzer-Cohen said.

“He’s thrilled to death,” Meltzer-Cohen said. “He’s been waiting for this a long time. He understands that his patience will benefit other transgender folks in custody.”

Mason has not been comfortable with his birth gender for years, Meltzer-Cohen said. He was diagnosed with gender identity dysphoria in 2013 and went public with his wish to be male in 2014, Meltzer-Cohen said.

“I think the main hurdle has been the newness of the setting,” Meltzer-Cohen said. “I don’t think the doctors have had to deal with this before in a prison setting. They are moving very carefully, and that’s why there are a lot of delays.

“They will not do anything that will put his health at risk.”

YOU MAY ALSO LIKE