Shawn Frederick was born female and Christian. He died male and Muslim.

His partner, Nakemia Stanley, is now suing New York City over the Muslim man’s advance directive about how to dispose of his remains. The suit alleges that the state’s failure to follow his directive caused her so much distress that she miscarried twins.

Before his death, Frederick properly completed the New York State Department of Health form assigning control of the disposition of his remains to his pregnant partner. He chose Stanley rather than his biological family, who refused to accept his gender identity or conversion to Islam.

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Compassion & Choices says New York City officials violated Frederick’s explicit instructions for his disposition as well as his bodily autonomy and religious beliefs - - key protections enshrined in federal and New York law.

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While city officials did not contest the validity of the directive, they nonetheless failed to honor it by releasing Frederick’s body to his biological family. As he had feared, his family used his deadname (i.e., birth name), misgendered him, and arranged for an open casket funeral service and Christian burial.

It was only after Stanley implored city officials, that they retrieved Frederick’s body and returned it to the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner, where it was held for almost a month, despite Stanley’s constant requests to release the body to her. During this ordeal, Stanley, eight months pregnant and overwhelmed by stress, went into early labor and ended up miscarrying twins.

"The City's apparent utter recklessness with the remains of peoples' loved ones -- when combined with their total refusal to take responsibility for their mistakes -- should scare every one of us," lead attorney Remy Green of Cohen and Green, PLLC told Port Of Harlem. They continued, "An old legal truism goes, 'there are no rights without remedies.'  If that's right, this case asks whether we have a right to control our bodies after we die.  I can only hope the answer is 'yes.'"

“Transgender people’s bodily autonomy is under constant attack everywhere, but we expect better from one of the world’s most diverse cities, especially regarding honoring people’s end-of-life directives,” said Kevin Díaz, chief legal advocacy officer for Compassion & Choices, which has filed an amicus brief late Tuesday to support the lawsuit, Stanley v City of New York.

Compassion & Choices is a national nonprofit advocacy group that works to empower patients’ voice and agency in end-of-life care, regardless of gender identity, age, sexuality, race, ethnicity, religion, national origin, wealth, marital status, or disability.

The advocacy group says New York City officials violated Frederick’s explicit instructions for his disposition as well as his bodily autonomy and religious beliefs - - key protections enshrined in federal and New York law.

.“In Islam, burial must take place as quickly as possible after death ,preferably within 24 hours,” said David B. Bassett, a Senior Partner at Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale & Dorr LLP based in New York City. In this case, Stanley was forced to wait nearly a full month to lay Frederick to rest. “Meanwhile, she lived in anguish, knowing that his dying wishes were being violated,” he continued.

The lawsuit claims city officials violated her Right to Sepulcher, a right that provides monetary relief to an individual who has been denied the ability to immediately control the disposition of a loved one’s body. The suit also alleges discrimination on the basis of gender, sexual orientation, and marital status, as well as a tort claim for infliction of emotional distress.