BOISE, Idaho (AP)

US District Court Judge Mikel Williams says the state must offer female hormone therapy to an inmate who believes she is a woman trapped in a male body.

Jenniffer Spencer changed her name from Randall Gammett after she was imprisoned for possession of a stolen car and escape in 2000.

She told the Idaho Department of Corrections in 2003 that she believed she had gender identity disorder and wanted psychotherapy and female hormone therapy. But doctors working for the state prison system said she didn’t have the disorder and didn’t need female hormones.

Spencer became despondent and ultimately castrated herself in her cell, using a disposable razor blade.

Now that her body is producing no male hormones, doctors say she is at risk of osteoporosis and other medical problems. Prison officials offered her treatment with testosterone, but Spencer refused and filed a lawsuit instead, hoping a judge would force the state to give her estrogen.

A trial in the case will likely take a year or more. But the federal judge says until that trial comes, the state must give Spencer estrogen therapy and psychotherapy.

Spencer’s attorney Shannon Minter says the inmate was thrilled by the ruling. Idaho Department of Correction spokesman Jeff Ray says the state is still considering the implications of the ruling.

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