Rantz: WA state paying outrageous salary to ‘Gender Affirming Medical Specialist’
Dec 12, 2024, 4:55 AM
The Washington Department of Corrections serves few transgender inmates. Yet a doctor in charge of their care will make a huge salary, Rantz writes. (Photo courtesy of the Department of Corrections Washington State)
(Photo courtesy of the Department of Corrections Washington State)
The Washington State Department of Corrections (WADOC) is paying an outrageous salary to a newly developed Gender Affirming Medical Specialist, despite transgender inmates representing a tiny fraction of the population in jail.
The Department of Corrections Health Services Division posted a job opening for the position on December 6. The Gender Affirming Medical Specialist would be stationed in Thurston County and is tasked with analyzing, directing and coordinating the medical care offered by the state to transgender and “gender diverse incarcerated individuals.” This position would join a team that includes a Gender Affirming Program Coordinator and the Gender Affirming Patient Navigators.
The salary range for the position is $198,648 – $267,228.
More from Jason Rantz: You’re about to be hit with new taxes in Washington and you don’t even know it yet
Gender Affirming Medical Specialist cashes in during budget deficit
Washington taxpayers already shelled out nearly $600,000 to provide dozens of transgender inmates with gender reassignment surgeries, hormone replacement therapies and other so-called “gender-affirming healthcare.”
Now, amidst a $10-$12 billion budget deficit, the state will be spending upwards of $267,000 on a doctor who will barely have inmate patients who truly identify as transgender.
Inmates are not required to disclose their gender identity. WADOC believes there are upwards of 250 transgender-identified inmates.
More from Jason Rantz: Daniel Penny verdict is a victory for justice, but a warning to Seattle
Concern over legitimacy of Washington transgender inmates claiming false identity
The duties of the Gender Affirming Medical Specialist are listed in the job posting.
The position is expected to be the “treating consultant for transgender patients in conjunction with the on-site staff.” The physician will manage “assessment for and treatment with hormones and consideration for surgical intervention.”
Current and former staff have raised concerns about transgender inmates essentially “gaming the system,” in order to gain special treatment at Washington prisons. One employee previously told KIRO Newsradio male inmates routinely pretend to identify as women so that they can be housed with biologically female inmates.
Female inmates have also raised alarm. They believe biological male inmates pose a safety risk in women-only jails.
In 2021, for example, a transgender inmate was placed in the Washington Corrections Center for Women. Bryan Kim, also known as Amber FayeFox Kim, was moved back to the Monroe Correctional Facility (for men) in 2023 because of “ongoing safety and security concerns.” According to an incident report, first reported by the National Review, Kim was seen “laying on the floor completely nude from the waist down with their cellmate … on top of them also nude from the waist down actively having sex.” The WADOC said this was the first time a transgender female inmate was returned to a men’s prison.
Misuse of taxpayer funds for handful of Washington transgender inmates
Washington’s decision to spend up to $267,000 annually on a Gender Affirming Medical Specialist for a minuscule transgender inmate population is an absurd misuse of taxpayer money. It’s as wasteful as taxpayer-funded gender reassignment surgeries for inmates.
While addressing healthcare needs for all inmates is important and required by law, this level of spending on a niche role, in addition to the existing “Gender Affirming Program Coordinator” and “Patient Navigators,” reeks of bureaucratic excess. It’s the kind of decision that’s made when you hope to virtue signal to the rest of the country that Democrats are “evolved” on the issue.
Indeed, the WADOC secretary Cheryl Strange was recently appointed by the Joe Biden administration to join the Justice Department’s National Institute of Corrections (NIC) Advisory Board. At the time of the announcement, the media focused on her work around transgender inmates.
More from Jason Rantz: Already stretched thin, Tacoma firefighters warn city that budget cuts could cost lives
This isn’t necessary
Transgender inmates make up a fraction of the prison population, yet the state is prioritizing an extravagant salary for a position that seems redundant given the resources already in place.
Meanwhile, broader systemic issues in the prison system — such as safety concerns, recidivism and inadequate resources for mental health — remain woefully underfunded. Why are taxpayers footing the bill for this unnecessary layer of fluff while the state’s pressing public safety needs go ignored under Democratic rule in Olympia?
This position symbolizes misplaced priorities and unchecked spending by a government more focused on virtue signaling than fiscal responsibility. If Washington truly wants to address healthcare disparities, it should focus on scalable solutions that benefit all inmates, rather than funneling resources into what amounts to an ideological vanity project.
Listen to The Jason Rantz Show on weekday afternoons from 3-7 p.m. on KTTH 770 AM (HD Radio 97.3 FM HD-Channel 3). Subscribe to the podcast here. Follow Jason Rantz on X, Instagram, YouTube and Facebook.
-
Tune in to AM 770 KTTH weekdays at 3-7pm toThe Jason Rantz Show.
