Last October, the Washington Post reported on a Massachusetts transgender woman's suit filed against the IRS for the right to claim her sex-change operation as a medical deduction on her income taxes.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/09/30/AR2007093001194.html
During the trial, Rhiannon O'Donnabhain, 64, described the struggles she faced as a gender conflicted young boy in a staunchly conservative, Catholic family. Growing up she played with boys, worked in construction and even ultimately married a woman and fathered three children.
In 1996, at 53, Rhiannon was diagnosed with gender identity disorder. In the following five years, she underwent intensive counseling and hormone treatments in order to complete her sexual reassignment surgery in 2001. According to the article, this was the first time in her life, that she felt at peace:
"I'm just so glad I did this," stated Rhiannon.
The article explains that Rhiannon spent more than $25,000 on sex-reassignment surgery in 2001, and claimed a $5,000 deduction. After sending Rhiannon the $5,000 check, the IRS denied the deduction, claiming the surgery was cosmetic and thus not a deductible medical condition.
According to leading medical experts, Gender Identity Disorder is a recognized medical condition that results in an estimated 1,000 to 2,000 sex-change operations a year in the U.S. alone.
Marshall Forstein, an associate professor of psychiatry at Harvard Medical School, asks: "When did the IRS suddenly become physicians?" Forstein reiterated that transgender identity is a condition expressly discussed in diagnostic manuals. Forstein continued:
“It seems the IRS is now in the business of practicing medicine without a license."
According, to Rhiannon's lawyers from the Gay and Lesbian Advocates and Defenders (GLAD), the case will likely set a precedent as to whether such procedures will be considered tax deductible.
Independent of whether Gender Identity Disorder is a medical condition, sexual reassignment surgery may have substantial legal repercussions. Firstly, in 31 states, documented proof of sexual reassignment surgery is necessary in order to change your legal sex status on your driver's license.
Secondly, in a 1997 unreported case of Vecchione v. Vecchione, a California Superior court held that a postoperative transsexual acquires his postoperative sex for purposes of marriage. In the middle of a custody battle dispute over her three year old daughter, Christie Vecchione, claimed her marriage to Joshua Vecchione should be annulled. After revealing to the court that her husband had been recognized as a female at birth, she pointed to the state's ban on same-sex marriages to argue that the marriage had never been valid. Superior Court Judge Gary Ryan held that the annulment and not the marriage was invalid. In ruling that Christie was legally a female, the court placed great weight on a state statue that expressly permits a post operative transgender individual the right to change the sexual designation on their birth certificate.
I would like to see the IRS explain to Mr. Vecchione that sexual reassignment surgery-- a procedure that directly prevented the annulment of his marriage and protected his custody rights over his 3 year old daughter--is merely a cosmetic operation.
1 comment:
It is deeply disturbing how every aspect of our lives and our government has become a weapon in the culture wars. Why can't the IRS just accept what the Dr.'s say and do their job? People do not need to bring their political view points with them into every aspect of our lives for the sole purpose of hurting others. That $5,000 for a person who has gone through so much probably means a lot. What does it do for the IRS who allows companies to skip through loopholes and people commit tax fraud. They should concentrate on the big fish and leave their politics at the door.
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