Houston County, Ga., Sheriff’s Sgt. Anna Lange

JEFF AMY | Associated Press

ATLANTA — A federal appeals court has reversed previous court rulings that found a Georgia county illegally discriminated against a sheriff’s deputy by failing to pay for her gender-affirming surgery.

The 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals found in an 8-5 decision that Houston County’s policy of denying coverage did not violate the civil rights of sheriff’s Sgt. Anna Lange.

The decision of the full Atlanta-based appeals court overturned a three-judge appeals panel and a lower-court ruling that both found the refusal to cover Lange’s prescribed gender-affirmation surgery amounted to illegal sex discrimination under the Civil Rights Act of 1964.

“The county’s plan draws a line between certain treatments, which it

See Full Page