|
Male
Inmates
in
Costa
Rica
Can
Wear
Women's
Clothing
Costa
Rica's
Sala
Constitucional
(Constitutional
Court)
has
ruled
that
prison
officials
must
allow
a
male
inmate
to
dress
in
women's
clothing.
The
ruling
followed
an
appeal
by
David
Avila
Ulloa,
who
changed
his
name
to
Sherlyn
Tatiana
and
who
has
been
in
prison
since
March
20111,
after
prison
officials
forbade
him
to
dress
as a
woman.
The
man,
convicted
of
drug
trafficking,
appealed
the
prohibition
to
the
Constitutional
Court
which
ruled
in
Avila's
favour.
The
justices
said
in
their
ruling,
however,
that
Avila
may
dress
"as
a
woman
or
in
the
way
that
he
wants,
provided
that
such
clothing
is
not
obviously
scandalous
or
such
that
it
affects
the
order
or
the
security
of
the
penal
centre".
The
22-year-old
inmate
of
the
La
Reforma
prison
said
that
he
liked
to
use
female
clothing,
jewellery
and
makeup
even
when
he
was
a
child.
He
added
that
discrimination
in
the
prison
is
"very
strong",
with
prison
staff
not
viewing
him
as
either
man
or
woman
but
rather
"as
an
animal".
"They
told
me
that
if I
wanted
to
go
to
the
school
(where
the
prisoners
study)
I
had
to
dress
like
a
man",
Avila
said.
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