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The American Civil Liberties Union filed a lawsuit Wednesday against Dignity Health for denying a transgender patient a procedure that was part of his medical transition.
The lawsuit was filed on the behalf of Evan Minton, who was denied a hysterectomy in August 2016 at the Mercy San Juan Medical Center in Carmichael two days before his surgery. During his pre-operation checklist, Minton told the hospital he is transgender and prefers to be referred to as he.
The next day, the hospital canceled his surgery and offered to send him to a different hospital.
"We feel very clearly that they discriminated against me because I’m transgender -- and that is against the law," Minton said.
In the lawsuit, the ACLU argues that denying medical care to patients due to their gender identities is "sex discrimination in violation of California’s Unruh Civil Rights Act."
Sacramento defense attorney Johnny Griffin said Minton may have a case against the California-based hospital system.
“It kind of goes back to the whole 'separate but equal' years ago, where it was OK to discriminate, but as long as you provide something that was equally balanced," Griffin explained. "So, this is why this is an area of the law that needs to be settled by the courts."