Christina Lusk becomes first transgender Minnesota inmate transferred to facility matching gender identity
STILLWATER, Minn. – The Minnesota Department of Corrections has made its first transfer of a transgender person to a facility that matches their gender identity.
Christina Lusk, 57, has been serving her sentence for drug crimes at the Moose Lake men's facility since 2018. As of Tuesday, she is now serving at the Shakopee women's facility.
The DOC recently changed its policies on the treatment of transgender inmates after a lawsuit, and an almost half-million-dollar settlement.
The lawsuit argued that Lusk had been persistently misgendered by the DOC, and not allowed access to gender-affirming care.
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Per the settlement, the DOC agreed to follow the care standards set by the World Professional Association for Transgender Health, and to make sure its staff are properly trained on serving transgender inmates.
The settlement also stipulates that the DOC will help Lusk receive gender-affirming surgery if deemed essential by a transgender health specialist.
"This journey has brought extreme challenges, and I have endured so much. My hope is that nobody has to go through the same set of circumstances," Lusk said earlier this month.
She is set to be released from prison next March.
The DOC says of the state's 8,000-plus inmates, 48 of them are transgender.
