Trans inmate's mom denies claims transition is SCAM as ex-wife slams lawsuit ... trends now

The mother of a transgender inmate who sued the Department of Corrections after claiming she was abused at an 'all-male' facility says her transition was a 'surprise' but denies it's a scam – as an ex-wife slams the lawsuit as 'bogus'.

Minnesota's DOC agreed to settle Christina Lusk’s case for $495,000 after they housed her in a male facility where she says other prisoners verbally and sexually abused her.

The trans woman legally changed her name in 2018 from Craig to Christina, just before she pleaded guilty to drug possession and was jailed for eight years and two months. 

Her mother Patricia Lombard, 80, told DailyMail.com that Lusk’s transition was a 'shock' and believes her extensive criminal record - dating back to 1984 - was in part related to struggles with her gender identity.

'When she told me it was a surprise, but it was some years ago now. I remember her asking me if she was a boy or a girl when she had been drinking,' she said.

'That was around 15 years ago, maybe more. She still calls me every few weeks, she has certainly had a wild ride with the police.

'I don't know how many drunk driving convictions she has had, but I know it's been a few. I'm sure her issues with her gender identity were a cause of the drinking and the criminality.'

Lusk's ex-wife, who asked not to be named, told DailMail.com she was a 'scammer' and a 'big fat liar' who would do 'anything for money' - something her mother disputes.

Lombard, who admits Lusk has a checkered history with police, added: 'I don't believe that. She has already had a breast enhancement, and I know that she wouldn't have gone through all of that for no reason.' 

'I don't think the thought had ever entered her mind, she was very confused at the time when she asked if she was a boy or a girl. 

'There are times when she has thought about committing suicide, and I have had to talk her off the ledge.

'For it to be a scam, I don't think it would have even been a thought in his mind. I would have a very hard time believing that was the case. 

Lusk will be transferred to a women's facility in Shakopee next week where she will  be given further gender-affirming healthcare but Lombard raised doubt if the move will help her daughter.

'It was more enough was enough being picked on in the male prison, and not just by the inmates. The guards would throw her into solitary, but I don't think this is her being out to get them,' she said.

'I don't know if the move to a women's prison will be positive, she's had to take time because of her gender issues. The suit was about enough being enough and fighting back.'

Lusk married in 2005 and has one child - from a prior relationship - and her ex-wife  filed for divorce in 2008, alleging that Lusk was a 'heavy drinker' and 'violent.'

The ex-wife, speaking to DailyMail.com on the condition of anonymity, claimed Lusk's transition was a 'scam'.

'I think all of this stuff he (Lusk) is doing to try to get himself out of doing all of the time in jail,' she said.

'He would tell his family that if he was a woman, and had boobs, then they had to put him in a female prison.

'He said that he was going to make sure he made money out of the whole ordeal, he said ''I'm going to become a woman and complain to make sure they give me money and move me''.

'When we were married he wasn't doing anything like that, or even after we were divorced. I think he's a big fat liar.

'I spoke to his family after we divorced, and they said that it was a big thing to get himself out of prison and get some money.

'When I saw it on the news, before they released his name, I said to my family that it was something Craig would do – try to scam people to get money.

The ex-wife said her relationship with Lusk was volatile until she filed for divorce when Lusk was in prison for DWI.

'He was violent to me, and it's embarrassing. I didn't know anything about his past life or his drug use or anything,' she said.

'I only realized how much he drank after we got married. He was abusive to me and my son. He would drink from the moment he got out of bed until he got back into bed.

'I left him in prison when he got DWI up north. I filed for divorce and I refused to bail him out I just left him there.'

The woman said during their marriage she had no inclination that Lusk was struggling with her gender, calling her 'extremely masculine.' 

'During our marriage there was absolutely nothing about being transgender. I got a call in 2011 from his probation officer asking about us sharing clothes,' she said.

'I was amazed. He had told her that I was comfortable with him doing that, which I wouldn't have been.

'When we were married, I was a size two, there was no way he would have been able to fit in my clothes and I didn't know anything about it until she called me.

'I called his mother, and she said it was a way for him to get out of jail. If he had boobs, he had to be put into a female facility.

'It surprised me that he would go through with the surgery. He was always very proud of his manhood and would walk around all the time showing off his muscles.

'He was very manly. There was nothing feminine about him whatsoever. I think the payout is completely bogus.

'All of this is just to try to get him out of jail, he's one of those people that just like's to be noticed.'

Lusk claims she had been seeking a vaginoplasty

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