A transgender inmate whose lawsuit forced policy changes at the Oregon Department of Corrections was transferred Monday from a male prison to the state's lone prison for women.

Michalle Wright, 27, who has identified as a woman since 16, had requested a transfer from the Oregon State Correctional Institution in Salem. She's been moved to Coffee Creek Correctional Institution in Wilsonville, where agency officials said she will be housed in the general population.

Wright, who grew up in Gresham, is serving time for attempted robbery.

Mat dos Santos, legal director of the ACLU of Oregon who represented Wright, welcomed news that his client is now housed at the women's prison.

Transgender inmates, he said, are especially vulnerable to abuse. "We are really relieved that action was taken to protect our client from a known and foreseeable threat to her well-being," he said.

The state's online inmate database originally listed Wright as a male. As of Tuesday, Wright was listed as a female housed at Coffee Creek.

Wright sued the state in 2016, claiming it denied her essential medical care and subjected her to harassment by corrections officers.

The state settled the suit for $167,500 and paid $100,000 in legal fees.

Last year, the Corrections Department granted Wright's request for hormone treatment. She has also requested an orchiectomy, a surgical procedure to remove the testicles, before she is released from state custody later this year. The agency declined to comment on the status of the request, citing medical confidentiality.

The Corrections Department has 55 transgender or intersex inmates in custody, said spokeswoman Betty Bernt. Intersex refers to people born with a combination of male and female biological characteristics, such as chromosomes or genitals.

Bernt said transgender and intersex inmates are housed at prisons across the state. Some are housed in prisons that "match their assigned sex at birth, while others are not," she said.

Bernt confirmed Wright's transfer and said inmate placement decisions are based on "individual inmate programming and housing needs, and the department's need to manage institutions and the inmate population in a safe and secure manner."

Under its settlement with Wright, the state agreed to additional training for prison counselors, consideration of a support group for transgender inmates and a pledge to provide transgender women inmates access to products available to women at Coffee Creek.

The corrections agency also said it would consider Wright's request for a curling iron and flat iron and agreed to allow Wright to use an electric razor "without restriction as to where on her body she can use it."

The state promised to provide her with "clothing appropriate for her size."

-- Noelle Crombie

ncrombie@oregonian.com

503-276-7184

@noellecrombie