Kansas Dept. of Corrections threatens employees who misgender inmates

(The Sentinel) – The Kansas Department of Corrections is refusing to answer questions after the Sentinel obtained an email threatening KDOC employees for “deliberate misgendering” of “residents,” which is how KDOC refers to inmates.

The email, titled “PREA Refresher,” states, “It is crucial we use the proper pronouns when communicating to the residents at our facility.”

It goes on to note that while “mistakes can happen, and, purposely calling a resident by the incorrect pronouns will not be tolerated.”

Further, the email notes, “using correct pronouns is related to a PREA standard, and compliance with this standard is measured during the Department of Justice PREA Audit.” PREA is the acronym for Prison Rape Elimination Act.

The email goes on to state: “Repeatedly calling a Resident by the incorrect pronouns is considered Sexual Harassment and will be handled as such.”

The Sentinel asked KDOC for the reasoning behind this policy and what — exactly — this had to do with prison rape prevention — but as of publication has received no response.

The email does not list which PREA standard references “misgendering,” and a search of the standard by the Sentinel turned up no references to pronouns or misgendering. Therefore, it is unclear to which standard KDOC is referring.

In fact, the only references to transgender inmates are in reference to pat-downs, searches, determining how and where to house an inmate, and inmate safety issues — such as allowing transgender inmates to shower separately. 

The only reference that is even close to “misgendering” a statement that sexual harassment includes “repeated verbal comments or gestures of a sexual nature to an inmate, detainee, or resident by a staff member, contractor, or volunteer, including demeaning references to gender, sexually suggestive or derogatory comments about body or clothing, or obscene language or gestures.”

The authenticity of the email was verified by a KDOC source, speaking on condition of anonymity.

The same source verified to the Sentinel that convicted murderer Thomas Lamb, 83, now known as Michelle Renee Lamb, had been provided sex reassignment surgery while incarcerated and is serving three consecutive life terms in state prison.

Lamb is currently housed at the Topeka Correctional Facility, the only women’s prison in the state.

Lamb was convicted in 1970 for the 1969 murder of 24-year-old Karen Sue Kemmerle and the 1970 kidnapping of 18-year-old Patricia Childs.

In June 1970, Lamb was sentenced to three consecutive life sentences for the murder of Kemmerle and the aggravated kidnappings of Patricia Childs and Kemmerle.

“On Jan. 15, 1970, ex-convict Thomas P. Lamb used a gun to kidnap 18-year-old Patricia Childs from the parking lot of an Overland Park shopping mall,” the Topeka Capital-Journal reported in January 2020. “Lamb, 28, forced Childs to telephone her parents. He then demanded ransom money, allegedly to pay for a sex change operation, and told them not to call police.”

Lamb also had a history of escape, running from custody on three separate occasions, including shortly after his arrest, again in 1979 and a third time in 1987.

Lamb will next be eligible for parole in October 2025.