‘Granny Killer’ Refused Hormones in Prison

A Brisbane prisoner identified with Gender Identity Disorder who wishes to transition from male to female has been refused hormones.

So-called ‘granny killer’ Derek Lulu Sinden, 43, applied to the Queensland Civil and Administrative Tribunal alleging discrimination after being refused female hormones to start treatment.

The Queensland government usually funds all treatment or medication considered necessary for people held in detention.

However, in Sinden’s case only male hormone blockers have been administered because prisons only supply female hormones if treatment began before the prisoner entered the facility.

Kristine Johnson, secretary of the Australian Transgender Support Association Queensland, said prisoners are protected under the Anti-Discrimination Act 1991, and confirmed that hormones are supplied only to those already transitioning on entry.

“It's a standard that the correctives have: if you are already on the hormones when you enter they are legally obliged to provide them.”

Queensland Corrections Department successfully argued its decision to refuse treatment, saying that its decision was not discriminatory but consistent with its transgender policy.

In April 1999, Beryl Grace Brown, 71, suffered a heart attack and fatal stroke after Sinden attacked her in her home.