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Trial begins in Houston County transgender investigator's civil case for denied medical coverage

This comes after a ruling in June that Houston County denied the deputy under equal protection under the law.

HOUSTON COUNTY, Ga. — A jury in Macon federal court is scheduled to decide how much Houston County must pay a transgender sheriff’s investigator for denying medical coverage. 

Sgt. Anna Lange sued the county, Sheriff Cullen Talton and other county officials in 2019. Her lawsuit said the county ordered their insurance provider not to pay for her gender-reassignment surgery and treatment

Lange said a doctor found the surgery to be medically necessary. In June, U.S. District Court Judge Marc Treadwell ruled that the county had denied Lange equal protection under the law. The judge said it was illegal sex discrimination and cited the Civil Rights Act of 1964.

Now a jury is set to decide how much they will pay.

Lange has worked for the sheriff’s office for nearly 20 years and spent most of it as an investigator. 

In June, Lange’s lawyer told 13WMAZ that her treatment would cost around $26,000 but Houston County spent around $700,000 fighting her. 

Lange told 13WMAZ earlier this year that she could see herself advocating for others in the same position and their rights.

"Now that I've been through it and felt it, I know it certainly it takes everybody to stand up when they see something that isn’t right where people are being treated a certain way and just say, 'You know, enough,'" she said.

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