You may have heard about the case of the Houston County, Georgia who sued the county for gender transition surgery. A federal judge just ruled in the deputy’s favor.
Lange came out to colleagues as transgender in 2017, after 10 years on the job. In seeking the care she was prescribed by her doctor, she found out that the health plan excluded gender-affirming procedures.
What Lange encountered was the standard health insurance declination to pay for elective surgery. What he/she/it may discover is that the judge actually did “her” no favor.
The judge found that…
Lange is also a transgender woman, meaning that although she was assigned a male sex at birth, her internal knowledge of herself has always been that she is female. Docs. 179-3 ¶ 29; 195 ¶ 29. In medical parlance, this condition is called gender dysphoria. Docs. 179-3 ¶ 3; 195 ¶ 3. Left untreated, gender dysphoria can lead to clinically significant personal suffering and comorbidities, including anxiety, depression, self-harm, and suicidality.
In short, the judge ruled that Lange suffers from gender dysphoria, a mental illness, and that “treating” it through surgery means it is not merely elective surgery.
Lange probably thinks that’s good.
But the judge found that “she” is mentally deficient and at risk of self-harm and suicide, per 18 U.S. Code § 922(d)(4).
(d)It shall be unlawful for any person to sell or otherwise dispose of any firearm or ammunition to any person knowing or having reasonable cause to believe that such person—
[…]
(4)has been adjudicated as a mental defective or has been committed to any mental institution;
To turn Lange’s situtuation from “elective surgery” to medically required treatment,” the judge adjudicated Lange as a mental defective.
Oops. You’re now a prohibited person, Anna. No guns for you. No armed sheriff’s deputy job for you.
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