As everyone already knows, everything costs more in California thanks to state government policies that seek to pay for endless social programs. That’s particularly true of gasoline, energy, and housing. But it turns out that Californians are footing the bills for prisoners who request transgender surgical procedures behind bars. Over the past seven years, the cost of these procedures has added up to millions of dollars while the prisoners themselves are charged nothing. Four million dollars may seem like a drop in the bucket compared to California’s roughly $310 billion annual budget, and it is. But just as a matter of principle, you’d think that people would want to draw a line in the sand on this nonsense. (Free Beacon)

California since 2017 has spent more than $4 million of taxpayer money on surgical sex changes and cosmetic “gender-affirming” enhancements for 157 inmates, including 4 on death row, according to records obtained by the Washington Free Beacon.

The state has spent nearly $2.5 million on vaginoplasties and hundreds of thousands of dollars on fake breasts, laser hair removal, and facial feminization since 2017, when California became the first state in the nation to pay for prisoners’ sex-change operations. The state corrections department says it has not placed any limits on the type of procedures trans-identifying prisoners can request and, as of early this summer, had received nearly 1,000 petitions for “gender-affirming” surgeries, agency records show.

California’s lack of guardrails for trans-identifying prisoners stands in sharp contrast to its rules around inmate dental care, for instance, which don’t allow for root canals on back teeth, cosmetic tooth restoration or replacement, or treatment of oral ulcers—among other services.

As noted in the excerpt above, this was a special law passed for the “benefit” of prisoners that doesn’t take into account some legitimate medical needs that they might have. Prisoners have to find the money to pay for a root canal if they have an infected tooth. And yet they can simply fill out a form and have breast implants put into a man on the taxpayer’s dime. (Eleven men received breast implants since 2017 at a cost to the state of more than $180,000. Forty women have had their breasts removed.)

Four of the prisoners who underwent sex-change surgery are on death row. Does it really matter at that point? Does anyone honestly think this is a valid use of taxpayer money at a time when people are fleeing the unaffordable and crime-ridden state in droves? Of course, that may not really matter because California hasn’t executed anyone since 2006 and Gavin Newsom issued a moratorium on future executions during his first term. But the principle remains the same.

The costs for these procedures continue to rise. This year, state prison officials requested a budget increase of $2.2 million solely to cover transgender medical procedures. They say they need to hire psychiatrists, surgeons, and social workers to deal with the growing number of gender-bending requests coming from prisoners. And the workers of the state will be footing the bill for all of it.

So what is driving all of this budget activity and policy changes? Have you ever heard of the Transgender Law Center? You probably won’t be surprised to learn that it’s funded by George Soros and they cover the costs of lawsuits brought by prisoners who claim that they require trans surgical procedures of various types. We’re not just talking about genital mutilation and breast implants, either. They also cover laser hair removal and “facial feminization” procedures. The bills for all of that add up quickly.

The transgender craze inside of California’s prisons is growing rapidly. Research from the Free Beacon shows that just 131 prisoners “identified” as transgender in 2013. But now, after more than five years of these new laws taking effect, the number has risen to 1,847. That’s likely due to the perceived benefits of making the switch. The vast majority of them are in the “male to female” category and almost all of those are trying to be transferred to women’s prisons. That’s a separate disaster to be covered at another time, but these trends are simply impossible to ignore. Yet California’s voters keep sending the same people back to office over and over again while paying for all of this nonsense out of their own pockets.