Man, I feel like a woman

When I first heard about this story I thought, "That'd be a good blog issue." After some consideration I thought, "But what can I say? Common sense will win out and there'll be no need for me to post on this." Looks like I was wrong.

Robert Kosilek, an admitted killer, is demanding that the state pay for his sex change. He is a man (still) who calls himself Michelle who killed his wife and is serving a life sentence. He has informed the state that he will commit suicide if he is not granted the surgery to complete his transformation.

The state has already paid for his laser hair removal ($500 per treatment, several treatments needed) and female hormone injections ($200 per injection). He is also demanding that the state (read: tax payers) pay for his breast implants ($5,000), chest hair removal ($600 per treatment, typically 10 treatments needed), two surgeries (total $12,500 for both), and recovery costs.

Of course, my first impression is to chuckle. That's pretty funny, nice try, you're a convict you have lost your freedom to change your sex. However! This felon's lawyer has found medical experts to side with him. One psychiatrist said "not allowing Kosilek's sex change operation is the same as denying a patient treatment for a burst kidney." Pardon? Because he's gonna die if he doesn't receive "treatment?" ("Treatment," obviously, is a misnomer as this is a voluntary operation. They are making it seem as though a nose job were "treatment.") Well, he may die, but only at his own hands. Another article explains that he's attempted suicide twice before. Hmm, seems to me he isn't very talented at this. Do we really have a lot to worry about? (he's also threatened to castrate himself... Ok, have fun!)

The controversial side of me asks, "If he does kill himself, is that so bad? Lowers the number of inmates, lowers the cost to feed, clothe, and house him, lowers court costs for all the times that he's going to sue for this procedure (This is his third attempt). Why stop him?"

Another issue is that there are about 15 prisoners hoping he wins because they want the same procedure! So a conservative estimate of the overall "treatment" would be $25,000 just for him. If he is awarded this tax payer funded gift, all of the others would be able to receive it as well, costing the state $375,000. This isn't something that I could get the tax payers to pay for. But this man has killed someone so he's entitled to it? Am I the only one who sees the problem here?

Let's take a step back and suppose that this man isn't crazy but rather brilliant. He's serving a life term in a male prison with male guards. If he has this done he would have to be moved to a woman's prison yet he would still have his male muscular make up. Perhaps he thinks that he has a better chance of breaking out of a female prison. Or even more devious: he changes his gender, changes his name, changes his identity. Suddenly, he is no longer Robert Kosilek, the man who murdered his wife. He is Michelle Kosilek, the woman trapped in a man's body that has finally emerged and deserves to go free. She hasn't done anything!

No matter what the case, this man does not deserve my money to become a woman. I wish our society would stop giving things away to people who don't deserve them! If you break the law, you lose your freedom. America is no longer the land of the free for you! If you wanted to become a woman, you should have saved some money, paid for the surgery, and not killed your wife! I'm sure you could have gotten a divorce once you made your sexual intentions known.

It's insane that this issue is even being discussed. It should be laughed out of court and he should have to somehow pay reparations to the state for what we've already paid for! I wish I could say this was more than just my opinion!