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Why do trans women end up in men’s prisons or jails? 

I think that it is important to know why trans women end up in men’s prisons. As Mary K. Stohr discuss most prisons and jails separate prisoners based on their birth sex or genitalia. Further, Stohr states that this becomes a problem because it creates an invisible war on trans women who are incarcerated in men’s prison. For example, is assume that if a trans woman is placed in a men’s facility, they are not going to suffer any violence. However, there has been research and real-life account that shows that is not true. 

While trans women are incarcerated, they face discrimination, harassment, and abuse. They encounter the different form of violence from guards and other prisoners. Stohr state that staff from the facility also engage in sexual assaults and is most likely to happen when they are doing body searches (124). The example shows that guards abuse their power when they are dealing with trans women. Rape is the most common form of violence that trans women experience. As Peek describe it, there is a hierarchy in prison which rank prisoners by their “fighting abilities and manliness.” The hierarchy allows for trans women to be rape since they will be at the bottom. Furthermore, while incarcerated trans women also get called by the wrong pronouns or by the name they do not identify.

Further,  incarcerated trans women have less access to certain options. Which can include counseling services, continuing hormone therapy or getting access to hormone therapy, sex reassignment surgery, or changing their legal name (Routh et al. 645). Furthermore, when they are incarcerated they also have a problem to change their legal name. Victoria Law states that in New York, prisoners are not allowed to have their birth certificate (2017). This is a problem because a birth certificate is needed for a name change. However, they can obtain a copy, but that will be an additional fee with the filing fee that many cannot afford. 

     Sources:    

Law, Victoria. “Trans People in Prison Fight Barriers to Changing Their Legal Names and Gender Markers.” Prison Legal New: Dedicated to Protecting Human Rights. 18 July 2017. Web. 29. 2017. 

Peek, Christine. “Breaking Out of the Prison Hierarchy: Transgender Prisoners, Rape, and the Eighth Amendment.” Santa Clara Law Review vol.44, 2004. Web. 29 Nov. 2017. 

Routh, Douglass, Gassan Abess, David Makin, Mary K. Stohr, Craig Hemmens, Jihye Yoo. “Transgender Inmates in Prisons: A Review of Applicable Statutes and Policies.” International Journal of Offender Therapy and Comparative Criminology, vol. 61 no, 6, 2017, pp. 645-666. Web. 29 Nov. 2017.                                                                                                               

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Being incarcerated is a horrible experience for anyone. While in prisons or jails many people face violence and barriers. However, through my research, I was able to learn that trans women face different forms of violence and barriers. For example, I never thought about a name change as a barrier. I have learned that changing one's legal name when they have a criminal record is a long and complicated process. However, I think that is unfair to trans people who want to legally change their name. For some changing their legal name is an important part of their identity. Further, trans people who are incarcerated have a hard time to change their legal name if they do not have money for the fees.

There are organizations that help low-income trans people who are incarcerated. For example, the Sylvia Rivera Law Project is an organization that helps trans people with their changing legal name, obtain gender appropriate clothing, appeal solitary confinement.  

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A text that we read for class that related to my topic is “Building an Abolitionist Trans and QueerMovement with Everything We’ve Got.” In the article Morgan et al. discuss how trans and queer people experience violence from the law enforcement and high rate of violence while they are incarcerated. Through my research, I read many experiences from trans women who experience violence by either being called the wrong pronouns or being sexually assaulted.  For example, Ashley Diamonds and Jules Williams suffered sexual and physical assault and harassment multiple times while they were incarcerated.  Furthermore, trans black women are the ones who are sexually assaulted the most compared to other race/ethnicities. 

Cheryl Chase 

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Another text that I related to my research is “Hermaphrodites with Attitude: Mapping the Emergence of Intersex Political Activism.” Chase does not describe the violence trans women face while they are incarcerated, but she discusses the importance of community. With a community, one does not feel alone, but they feel that they belong. Throughout my research, many trans women were placed in solitary confinement where they felt alone and depressed. Arkles describes forming community help trans prisoners resists violence they experience and help others inmates who are experiencing violence (518).  For example,  Khadija is a trans woman who was sexually assaulted, and when the man started to grab her, other prisoners helped her by pulling the man off her (Arkles, 528). Khadija’s inmates protecting her from the perpetrator shows the importance of a community. 

 Sources:                                                                                                                 

Arkles, Gabriel. “Safety and Solidary Across Gender Lines: Rethinking Segregation of Transgender People in Detention.” Temple Political & Civil Rights Law Review, vol. 18 no, 2, 2009, pp. 515-560. Web. 29 Nov. 2017.

Bassichis, Morgan, Alexander Lee, and DeanSpade. “Building an Abolitionist Trans and QueerMovement with Everything We’ve Got.”Captive Genders: Trans Embodiment and the Prison Industrial Complex. 2nd ed. Edinburgh: AK Press, 2015.15-40. Print.

Picture is of Ashley Diamond, one of the many trans women who have been denied hormone therapy.

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     As Ackles and Routh et al. discuss, access to health care becomes difficult for trans people while they are incarcerated (542;645). They explain that one of the most common medical treatment that trans prisoners are denied is hormone therapy. Ashley Diamond is a transgender woman from Georgia who was placed in a men’s prison. In a video, Diamond says that been taking hormones before she was incarcerated. However, once she was in prison, she was denied hormone therapy. Diamond says the lack of hormone therapy has made her body changed, for example, she explains it has changed how her skin looks and started to grow facial hair (Southern Poverty Law Center, 2015; Viceland, 2016). The picture below shows how her face has changed while she was in prison.

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Furthermore, Arkles describes that transgender people are forced to live as a gender they do not identify (547). For example, when Diamond was asked how she felt about her body being changed she said, “I was crying I was vomiting all the time” (Viceland 2017). Her experience with lack of hormone therapy shows that she was forced to live in a way she did not identify.                                

Jessica Hicklin is another trans woman who was denied hormone therapy. Hicklin was denied hormone treatment because of a “freeze-frame” policy. The policy state the treatment that transgender prisoners were receiving before their incarcerated would determine their treatment they will receive while incarcerated. Since Hicklin was already in prison for 21 years and was diagnosed with gender dysphoria in 2015  it made it difficult for her to get hormone therapy. Further, Hicklin state that she cannot “continue to live in a body that does not reflect who I really am” (Lambda Legal).  Her statement shows show she is being forced to live in a gender she does not identify just as Diamond.                                                                                               

Sparkles Wilson is another trans woman who was denied hormone therapy. Wilson’s case is different from Diamond and Hicklin. While Wilson was incarcerated in a state prison she did have access to hormone therapy. However, when she was transferred to Lackawanna County Prison she was denied hormone treatment. Without hormone therapy, her body started to back to its natural stage (Owens). Just as Diamond and Hicklin with lack of hormone treatment she was being forced to be in a body she did not want to.  Routh et al. discuss that options offer to transgender prisoners varies from state to state. Further, hormone therapy will be denied because is the most costly.  (662). Wilson’s case shows how access to hormone does vary from prison to prison even if she had a medical prescription. Viceland discuss that Diamond’s lawsuit made Georgia Department of Corrections change its policies and allowing access to hormone therapy to transgender inmates, however, diamond’s lawyer argues that some transgender people still do not have access to hormone therapy (2015). 

Sources: 

Arkles, Gabriel. “Safety and Solidary Across Gender Lines: Rethinking Segregation of Transgender People in Detention.” Temple Political & Civil Rights Law Review, vol. 18 no, 2, 2009, pp. 515-560. Web. 29 Nov. 2017

Lambda Legal. “Why I’m Suing Missouri’s Department of Corrections” Lambda Legal: Making the case for equality. 22 Aug. 2016. Web. 29. Nov. 2017.

Owens, Eric. “Judges Forces Prison to Provide Therapy To A Transgender Dude Named Sparkles Wilson.” The Daily Caller. 13 July 2017. Web. 29 Nov. 2017.  

Routh, Douglass, Gassan Abess, David Makin, Mary K. Stohr, Craig Hemmens, Jihye Yoo. “Transgender Inmates in Prisons: A Review of Applicable Statutes and Policies.” International Journal of Offender Therapy and Comparative Criminology, vol. 61 no, 6, 2017, pp. 645-666. Web. 29 Nov. 2017.

Southern Poverty Law Center. “Ashley Diamond, a transgender prisoner in Georgia, speaks out.” Online video clip. YouTube. YouTube, 20 Feb. 2015. Web. 29 Nov. 2017. 

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6x9: A virtual experiene of solitary confiement-360 video

 Imagine yourself in a closed cell for 22-24 hours a day with little to no human contact for months or even years. That’s the reality for many trans women who are incarcerated. A person can be put in solitary confinement for many reasons. For example, is used as a punishment or to protect vulnerable prisoners. As Gabriel Arkles discuss trans women are placed in solitary confinement because they are disproportionately targeted for sexual assault (517). Thus, trans women are placed in solitary confinement as a means to reduce violence. Another reason why trans women are placed in solitary confinement is that they were the victim of rape (Targets for Abuse). What it means for rape survivors is that they are suffering in silence. Instead of having access to counseling or the perpetrator getting punished. Furthermore, Arkles states that trans people need protection from other prisoners rather than the facility staff (518). However, being in solitary confinement does not mean one is going to be safe, but instead is a horrible experience.  

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CeCe McDonald is a trans woman who was sentenced to prison for second-degree manslaughter and was placed in a men’s prison. Many activists believe that she was punished for surviving a hate crime. During her time in prison, McDonald state that she was placed in solitary confinement. Stating that she spent about 5 months in solitary confinement while she was in prison and jail (Lockett). Further, describing it as a frustrating experience because she was only given an hour to either talk to her family or to shower. Additionally, while in solitary confinement lights in the cells were on 24/7 and she was not able to have a proper sleep. McDonald statement with not being able to have a proper sleep while in solitary confinement is a health concern. For example, there are long-term health problems such as high blood pressure, depression, diabetes, or heart attack (Brain and Spine Team). Furthermore, being in solitary confinement increase level of depression. For example, McDonald explains once she finished talking to her lawyer and went back to her room she felt more depressed. Depression may lead to suicide such in the case of Stacy Lorraine Naber. Naber was a trans woman who was found dead in her cell. Her family believes that she committed suicide because she was put in solitary confinement & legal struggle to change her name. However, there has no official report to show that what really happened to Naber.  

Sources:  

Arkles, Gabriel. “Safety and Solidary Across Gender Lines: Rethinking Segregation of Transgender People in Detention.” Temple Political & Civil Rights Law Review, vol. 18 no, 2, 2009, pp. 515-560. Web. 29 Nov. 2017. 

Brain and Spine Team. “What Happens to Your Body When You Don’t Get Enough Sleep.” Cleveland Clinic:health-essential. 28 Sept. 2015. Web. 29 Nov. 2017. 

Brydum, Sunnivie. “A Grim Reminder: Solitary Confinement Is Deadly For Trans Folks” Advocate. 18  Aug. 2016. Web. 29 Nov. 2017. 

Lockett, Dee. “The Traumatic Reality of Getting Sen to Solitary Confinement for Being Trans That Orange Is the New Black Can’t Show.” Vulture. 28 June 2016. Web. 29 Nov. 2017. 

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 This blog will be dedicated to research the violence, harassment, and barriers that trans women faced while in prisons or jails. Further, the blog will specifically focus on trans women in USA prisons and jails. I’m only going to focus on the USA criminal system because laws vary for each country. This is an important issue to the LGBTQIA+ community because trans women are part of the community. There has been a study that state that 59% of trans women in men’s prisons have been sexually assaulted by another prisoner (”Federal Survey”). However, there have been other studies that show officers also abuse trans women who are incarcerated. 

I want to research this topic because as a criminology minor I do not hear about trans women’s treatment while they are in prisons. The only time I get to read about the treatment of trans women is online. However, the ones I do read are the ones that get media attention. I hope to learn more about other trans women who have been incarcerated. 

Sources:           

POST 7: Conclusion

     This blog is dedicated to the issues that Hispanic/Latino LGBTQ community faces. This is an important topic because the Hispanic/Latino LGBTQ community is not as acknowledged as it should be within the LGBTQ community. The main goal of this blog is to bring awareness to Hispanic/Latino people in the LGBTQ community. This issue is important to me because my forty-year-old uncle has lived his entire life and has still not come out to the family. He is just like many other Hispanic/Latino individuals that have the same fear of coming out. Hopefully, this blog can help oppressed Hispanic/Latino LGBTQ individuals by showing them that they are not alone. Obviously, there is much work to be done, but hopefully this blog can help bring more awareness to these individuals so they can succeed in implementing social change.

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POST 6: GLAAD and Galaei

     The first organization is GLAAD; this organization's main goal is to fight for those in the LGBTQ community that are not represented at all. The Hispanic/Latino LGBTQ community is one group that is not represented, and GLAAD fights for their voice. Some of the projects that GLAAD works for are to promote acceptance of same sex parents, and trans parents in Hispanic/Latino community, as well as helping the Hispanic/Latino LGBTQ youth come out. GLAAD makes various campaigns to help bring more awareness to those who are not acknowledged. GLAAD also works in promoting stories and issues about those same individuals that are not acknowledged in the LGBTQ community.

     The second organization is Galaei; this organization helps promote leadership, sexual empowerment to Hispanic/Latino LGBTQ youth. Within Galaei there are many programs that give awareness to trans people, HIV, culture, and other grassroots organizations that help the Hispanic/Latino LGBTQ community. This is a great organization that gives a lot of support to the Hispanic/Latino community and helps give more acknowledgments to Hispanic/Latino LGBTQ people.

Sources:

"LGBT Latino." GLAAD. All Rights Reserved, 2016. Web. 28 Nov. 2016.

"Splash." Galaei. N.p., Sept. 2016. Web. 28 Nov. 2016. 

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