Appeals Court Hears Mass. Inmates Sex Change Case

Massachusetts prison officials are set to ask a federal appeals court to overturn a ruling granting a taxpayer-funded sex change for a transgender.

U.S. District Judge Mark Wolf ruled in September that the state Department of Correction must provide sex-reassignment surgery for Michelle Kosilek, who is serving a life sentence for murder.

Prison officials are appealing the ruling, saying they have security concerns and are worried about protecting Kosilek in prison if she has the surgery.

Oral arguments are scheduled Tuesday morning before the 1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.

Kosilek, who was born a man, was convicted in the 1990 murder of wife, Cheryl Kosilek.

In his ruling, Wolf found that the surgery is the "only adequate treatment" for Kosilek's gender-identity disorder.