Enforced Dysphoria: A Letter from a Transgender Woman Denied Care in a Florida Men’s Prison

This is a guest blog post by Reiyn Keohane, ACLU of Florida client. Reiyn is a transgender woman currently being denied hormone therapy and other treatment for gender dysphoria in a Florida prison. We have filed a lawsuit on her behalf to restore her medically necessary treatment. She wrote the below letter to let the world know about her experiences as a transgender woman being denied care in a Florida prison.

In the years I have been incarcerated, I have been made to endure more cruelty by the State of Florida than I ever imagined the government could commit. I am a transgender woman—but to the classification officers there is no such thing. If they say you’re male, you go to men’s prison, where you will be forced to “act like a man” under threat of being locked up in solitary, beaten, and humiliated. I have suffered through it all.

I have been forced to strip with men, and been slapped and hit for telling the officers in charge of the search that the rules say I must be searched separately. I have been handcuffed, thrown to the ground, and held down so officers could shave my head. I have been called a punk, a sissy, and a faggot; I have been beaten while handcuffed for asking to see mental health professionals.

August 15, 2016

Reiyn-Keohane-graphics.jpg

Guest Blog

I have had property “disappear,” shoes and books and grievances I have filed to address these issues. I have been pepper sprayed in the face because I refused to hand over the “contraband” bra and panties I had bought from the canteen and still had the receipt for, and forced to go days without any underwear at all after having mine confiscated.


I have been denied at every level, told by doctors that I’m not transgender, refused hormone therapy even though I had taken it on the streets, and had to go weeks without being able to shave after being put in confinement for wearing women’s clothing or standing up for my rights.


I have been made into something less than a man or woman, because in this world I am weak no matter how strong I may be, and I have no voice no matter how hard I scream.


But I have endured. I will because I believe this is my purpose—to suffer through and fight, write up everything I can, and take this unjust system to court. I know that I am not alone, that other women have been in my situation before, and had it better or worse. This is my rock bottom, the lowest point in my life, but I will survive, and I will never surrender who I am.


I will fight this prejudice every step of the way so that there will be a better future for all other people who are thrown in prison, so that we may all have the treatment, dignity, and respect that every human being deserves, even if they have done wrong.


I look forward to the day when transgender women will not be sent to prison for drug charges or prostitution, and I have gladly suffered all these things and more so that those who come after me will never have to.

Related Issues

Criminal Justice LGBTQ+ Rights View All Issues

Related Content

Court Case
Dec 13, 2024
A row of prison doors.

Keohane v. Dixon

On September 30, 2024, the Florida Department of Corrections issued a health services bulletin setting new rules for the medical care that would be provided to transgender people in its custody. Contrary to the medical mainstream, the bulletin suggests those seeking hormone therapy may have endured “short-termed delusions or beliefs which may later be changed and reversed” and recommended against providing any gender-affirming medical care unless extensive barriers were overcome. That same day, at Florida Department of Corrections facilities across the state, transgender inmates were rounded up and informed that FDC policy had been changed, “up to and including hormone therapy.” They were specifically told that they would no longer have access to clothing and grooming standards that accord with their gender identity and would have 30 days to comply. Transgender women like our clients Reiyn Keohane, Sasha Mendoza, and Sheila Diamond were told that those who did not cut their hair in compliance with male grooming standards would be forcibly shorn, and those who did not turn in their female undergarments and feminine canteen items would be disciplined. Transgender men like our clients Karter Jackson and Nelson Boothe were told that those who did not turn in their male undergarments and male canteen items would be disciplined. In October 2024, the ACLU filed emergency litigation on behalf of Reiyn — who has been receiving gender-affirming hormone therapy and clothing and grooming accommodations while in FDC custody since 2016—and a proposed class of transgender inmates with gender dysphoria, on the grounds that the new policy constitutes a violation of their Eighth Amendment right to medically necessary care. The ACLU previously filed a 2016 lawsuit on behalf of Reiyn that led to the now-rescinded policy permitting access to hormone therapy and female clothing and grooming accommodations for transgender women in FDC custody, which for more than six years permitted hundreds of transgender inmates to access needed gender-affirming care. On January 31, 2025, the district court denied the government’s motion to dismiss the case, and the parties proceeded to discovery. On October 22, 2025 the district granted class certification for all inmates in FDC custody with gender dysphoria who are denied social accommodations.