(AP) - A 57-year-old convicted killer has become the first U.S. inmate to receive state-funded sex reassignment surgery.
Shiloh Heavenly Quine has been living as a woman in a California men's prison. The surgery had been scheduled for Thursday, and her attorneys told The Associated Press on Friday that it was performed.
California prison officials agreed in 2015 to pay for the surgery for Quine, who is serving a life sentence for murder, kidnapping and robbery.
The state also became the first to set standards for other transgender inmates to apply for sex-reassignment surgery.
Quine's case prompted a federal magistrate to require California to provide transgender female inmates housed in men's facilities with more female-oriented items such as nightgowns, scarves and necklaces.
Quine will be transferred to a women's prison.
CapRadio provides a trusted source of news because of you. As a nonprofit organization, donations from people like you sustain the journalism that allows us to discover stories that are important to our audience. If you believe in what we do and support our mission, please donate today.