Two transgender residents this week pushed Wisconsin to move into the next frontier in transgender rights: state-funded sex change surgeries.
In a federal lawsuit filed Monday, two plaintiffs alleged the state Department of Health Services unlawfully discriminated against them by refusing to cover their sex change operations.
Cody Flack, 30, and Sara Ann Makenzie, 41, both transgender individuals and Medicaid recipients, are fighting a 1997 Wisconsin regulation stating sex change surgery is “medically unnecessary” and therefore not eligible for Medicaid coverage. The suit contends the regulation has no scientific backing and is unconstitutional under the Affordable Care Act’s prohibition of discrimination based on gender identity.