<mediadc-video-embed data-state="{"cms.site.owner":{"_ref":"00000161-3486-d333-a9e9-76c6fbf30000","_type":"00000161-3461-dd66-ab67-fd6b93390000"},"cms.content.publishDate":1654802877974,"cms.content.publishUser":{"_ref":"00000177-1b39-d2c7-af7f-5fbf13ff0004","_type":"00000161-3461-dd66-ab67-fd6b933a0007"},"cms.content.updateDate":1654802877974,"cms.content.updateUser":{"_ref":"00000177-1b39-d2c7-af7f-5fbf13ff0004","_type":"00000161-3461-dd66-ab67-fd6b933a0007"},"rawHtml":"
var _bp = _bp||[]; _bp.push({ "div": "Brid_54802874", "obj": {"id":"27789","width":"16","height":"9","video":"1029137"} }); ","_id":"00000181-49ef-d590-a5f1-cbff8c200000","_type":"2f5a8339-a89a-3738-9cd2-3ddf0c8da574"}”>Video EmbedA federal judge ruled that a sheriff’s office in Georgia cannot deny insurance coverage to one of its longtime officers for gender reassignment surgery, equating transgender surgical procedures to “medically necessary” cancer treatment.
Chief Judge Marc Treadwell of Macon, Georgia, an appointee of former President Barack Obama, ruled that Houston County infringed on Sgt. Anna Lange’s rights under Title VII of the 1964 Civil Rights Act.
“The fact of the matter is, for example, that the plan pays for mastectomies when medically necessary for cancer treatment but not when mastectomies are medically necessary for sex change surgery,” Treadwell wrote of the county’s insurance plan.
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<mediadc-iframe data-state="{"cms.site.owner":{"_ref":"00000161-3486-d333-a9e9-76c6fbf30000","_type":"00000161-3461-dd66-ab67-fd6b93390000"},"cms.content.publishDate":1654806661820,"cms.content.publishUser":{"_ref":"00000177-1b39-d2c7-af7f-5fbf13ff0004","_type":"00000161-3461-dd66-ab67-fd6b933a0007"},"cms.content.updateDate":1654806661820,"cms.content.updateUser":{"_ref":"00000177-1b39-d2c7-af7f-5fbf13ff0004","_type":"00000161-3461-dd66-ab67-fd6b933a0007"},"iFrameEmbedCode":" rn","_id":"00000181-4a29-d590-a5f1-cabbb9e40000","_type":"00000161-b425-d761-a563-f7e77e270000"}”>iFrame ObjectTreadwell wrote that the county acted as an agent of the sheriff because “the County provided a health insurance plan to the Sheriff’s deputies—a function traditionally exercised by an employer.”
Lange, who was represented by the Transgender Legal Defense and Education Fund, said in a statement that the “decision is not only a personal victory, but a tremendous step forward for all transgender Southerners who are seeking insurance coverage for medically necessary care.”
Lange, who has served in law enforcement for 25 years, spent 16 years of that time working as an investigator at the Houston County Sheriff’s Office. She was born male but came out as a transgender woman in 2017.
Following the recommendation of a gender-affirming operation by her doctors, two psychologists, and a surgeon, Lange met with the county’s personnel director, Kenneth Carter, in April 2018 to inquire whether the county’s health insurance plan covered the surgery.
Carter said such surgeries were not covered by Houston County. In response, Lange appealed the insurance coverage denial to the county commission unsuccessfully. She later filed a federal lawsuit against the county in 2019.
Treadwell largely cited the Supreme Court precedent established in June 2020 in Bostock v. Clayton County, in which the court ruled that federal law restricts discrimination against gay and transgender employees.
The judge noted that “discrimination on the basis of transgender status is discrimination on the basis of sex and is a violation of Title VII,” citing Bostock.
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Treadwell cited estimates that Lange’s genital vaginoplasty would cost $25,600. In contrast, the county’s private attorneys have been billed nearly $690,000 in fees to defend the case, according to Open Records Act requests by Lange’s attorneys.
“It’s a huge relief to know that I can finally receive the medically necessary care that I was repeatedly and unfairly denied,” Lange said in a statement. “I can confidently move forward with my life knowing that gender affirming care is protected under federal law.”
