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A federal judge has ordered the state of Idaho to provide gender-transition surgery to a man behind bars for the sexual abuse of a child under 16.
The Idaho Press reported Adree Edmo, 31, who has been in a men's prison, could be only the second inmate in the country to be given such surgery.
Edmo has been seeking surgery to treat his "gender dysphoria"Â since he was sentenced in 2012.
A lawsuit was filed in federal court on his behalf by the National Center for Lesbian Rights. His lawyer, Amy Whelan, said an emergency ruling was sought because the organization was "so concerned for [Edmo's] health and well-being if she did not receive the surgery soon."
The case "will proceed in other ways now," the report said.
The Press said that before being in prison, Edmo "lived full-time as a woman, dressing in women's clothes and wearing women's cosmetics."
Once in prison, he immediately demanded the surgery, and a prison psychiatrist diagnosed him with dysphoria in 2012.
"Many transgender individuals are comfortable living with their gender role, expression and identity without surgery," said U.S. District Judge Lynn B. Winmill. "For others, however, gender confirmation surgery ... is the only effective treatment."
The court filing said "she cuts herself" to relieve emotional pain and when the state initially denied her treatment in 2014, he attempted suicide.
The judge claimed the denial of gender surgery violated the Eighth Amendment protection against cruel and unusual punishment.
"Whelan said she only knew of one other inmate in the country to receive gender confirmation surgery while in prison," the Press reported.