An inmate in the New Hampshire Department of Corrections is suing the state for forcing her to detransition, live in the state’s men’s facility in Concord, and be denied gender-affirming care.

Reports West Lebanon, NH, newspaper Valley News:

Avishay Alon, a transgender woman who prefers the name Allison, is diagnosed with gender dysphoria, which the lawsuit defines as “distress associated with an incongruence or mismatch between a person’s gender identity” and their sex at birth. Alon has received gender-transition care for more than two years, according to the lawsuit, including hormone therapy and laser hair removal, which has been denied at the prison.

While detained in Strafford County Jail before the trial, Alon received injectable hormone therapy, razors and tweezers. That ended when Alon arrived at the men’s prison.

The injections were replaced with pills, and Alon has not received shaving tools, according to the complaint. Alon wrote in a supplemental request filed with the lawsuit about being placed on suicide watch for a total of 16 days while in the maximum-security wing of the prison.

“My hormone levels have decreased to a level that amounts to a forced detransition,” Alon wrote. “I was forced to become fully bearded which is a hazard to my mental health, exacerbates my gender dysphoria and causes suicidal ideation.”

The lawsuit claims the Department of Corrections has acted with “deliberate indifference” to Alon’s medical needs and violated Alon’s right to due process and equal protection. …

Alon was sentenced this July following convictions of conspiracy to commit kidnapping, possession of a controlled drug and criminal threatening. The sentencing judge recommended that Alon’s medical and mental health care continue during incarceration, according to the suit filed by Manchester Attorney Michael Iacopino.

Commissioner William Hart, who is named in the lawsuit, rejected multiple requests from Alon to be placed in the women’s prison, according to the complaint. Alon is currently assigned to the residential treatment unit in the men’s prison, which is a lower-security area for inmates with behavioral health issues.

Read the complete Valley News story here.

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