Prisoner’s Accommodations Revoked for Refusing Hormone Therapy

Bruce Parker, who is incarcerated by the Michigan Department of Corrections (MDOC), has been diagnosed with gender dysphoria and identifies as non-binary. Under MDOC policy, a special gender dysphoria review committee is required to assess each case and recommend treatment and accommodations to address medical needs and personal safety. It was initially decided that Parker would be housed only with other people who have gender dysphoria and would be permitted to shower in relative privacy, accommodations that reduce safety risks for people in prison who are gender non-conforming. Parker’s accommodations were implemented successfully for six months but were then abruptly removed due to the fact that Parker does not wish to undergo feminizing hormone treatment—a treatment that is common for people with gender dysphoria but by no means universal or medically required. In January 2024 Parker filed a lawsuit seeking to restore the accommodations, and in May 2024 the ACLU of Michigan joined other attorneys in volunteering to provide representation pro bono. We are arguing that it violates Parker’s constitutional rights to condition health and safety accommodations on their willingness to take hormone therapy. In October 2024, Judge Judith Levy denied the defendants’ motions to dismiss the case for failure to exhaust administrative remedies, but in March 2025, the defendants filed another motion to dismiss the case, which remains pending. (Parker v. MDOC; ACLU Attorneys Syeda Davidson, Jay Kaplan, Bonsitu Kitaba-Gaviglio, Dan Korobkin; Co-counsel Debra Freid of Freid, Gallagher, Taylor, & Associates; John Philo, Tony Paris, and Elizabeth Jacob of the Sugar Law Center for Economic and Social Justice.)