#keepprisonssinglesex

The policy states: "Only when staff have enough information to reach a decision that a trans individual can be safely accommodated will they be placed in an establishment which matches their affirmed gender."

Trans men will be admitted to the female estate, but those who have committed crimes against women may be kept separate from other prisoners if it is "deemed necessary" to "keep women in custody safe".

The new guidelines also allow officers to search inmates regardless of the inmate's "affirmed gender" or sex assigned at birth, "if it is necessary to keep the individual or staff safe".

Risks carefully managed'

Teresa Medhurst, chief executive of the Scottish Prison Service, said if a trans woman's offences were historic and low level, they could be moved to the female estate, but she stressed that would be exceptional.

She said all prisoners were "treated with dignity and respect, with their rights upheld, and any risks carefully managed".

"The position, whilst it is still individualised, will ensure that those that have a history of violence against women and girls and present a risk to women will no longer be placed on admission in the women's estate.

"I am content that everyone who is a transgender individual is located in the prison which best suits their risk and needs profile."

She added that she was confident the new policy would address public concerns surrounding trans prisoners.

The Scottish government's Justice Secretary Angela Constance said the new policy protected the "safety and welfare" of staff and prisoners, and the "rights of transgender people".

She said: "SPS has considerable expertise, as well as a duty of care for the management of people in their custody, and this policy upholds its responsibilities to deliver safe, secure and suitable services for all."

Scottish Conservative justice spokesman Russell Findlay MSP said the new prison policy was "unacceptable" and put women at "even greater risk by further eroding their fundamental right to single-sex space".

"They say that male prisoners with a history of violence against women or girls should be allowed in the female estate and will only be blocked if they present a risk, which is completely subjective."

Lucy Hunter Blackman, from policy analysts Murray Blackburn Mackenzie, said any new policy in Scotland should not "talk narrowly about the potential risk of a physical or sexual assault".

Largely due to the efforts of the governing Liberal Party under Justin Trudeau, the category of “gender identity” was made a protected characteristic after it was added to the Canadian Human Rights Act via a controversial piece of legislation known as Bill C-16. The amendments granted men access to single-sex female spaces like washrooms, changing rooms, prisons, and rape shelters on the basis of their identity.

While the Canadian government claimed the bill had been assessed for its impact on women prior to approval, it has refused to release any details of the assessment’s findings. In 2020, a copy of the assessment was given to journalist Anna Slatz via an Access To Information Request but was 96% redacted.

Since Bill C-16 was enacted in 2017, a number of violent and sexually depraved male inmates have been transferred to women’s prisons across Canada.

As previously reported by Reduxx, one egregious example includes a trans-identified male who raped an infant before being transferred to a women’s prison.

Lusk was arrested on two drug-related felonies, but was ultimately only convicted on one after striking a plea deal. He pleaded guilty to first degree possession of a controlled substance, and was sentenced to 98 months in prison. The defendant fact sheet lists Lusk’s gender as “male,” though he had changed his legal name the year prior.

Lusk had a previous felony conviction for first-degree robbery.

The legal claim, which was successful in court, demanded that Lusk be transferred to MCF-Shakopee and refers to him as “a woman who was assigned male at birth”, using feminine pronouns throughout.

“Gender identity refers to a person’s innate sense and deeply held understanding of their own gender. Everyone has a gender identity,” reads the complaint. Lusk began taking female hormones in 2009 and received chest implants in 2017.

Gender Justice further demanded that Lusk be given “women’s undergarments,” and claimed that DOC “punished Ms. Lusk for having breasts and for wearing women’s clothing.” Additionally it was stated that Lusk was “repeatedly misgendered and misnamed”.

Craig ‘Christina’ Lusk shortly after undergoing a chest implant procedure in 2017.

As previously reported by Reduxx, a Facebook account belonging to Lusk showed that he was obsessively posting about seeking female sexual partners, and that he wanted “a bride from Japan”.

As a result of a settlement between Gender Justice and the DOC, Lusk was awarded a $495,000 payout, of which approximately $250,000 was allocated to cover the cost of legal fees. The DOC also rolled out a new policy that would streamline the process for male convicts to transfer into the women’s prison.

The legal team responsible for arguing Lusk’s case was honored with the title “Attorneys of the Year” by law publication Minnesota Lawyer.

The new transgender inmate policy, which was revised in April last year and came into effect at the beginning of April 2024, established an Agency Gender Identity Committee in order to identify and make placement recommendations for “incarcerated people who are transgender” or “gender diverse”. The document cites as an authority the World Professional Association for Transgender Health (WPATH), a lobbying group that Reduxx has repeatedly connected with sex offenders and sexologists sympathetic to pedophiles.

Christina Lusk.

This week, a woman formerly employed at the Minnesota Department of Corrections came forward to tell Alpha News that she had resigned from her post in protest of the new policy allowing men who claim a transgender status to be transferred into the female prison estate. Alicia Beckmann, who worked as a GED instructor at MCF-Shakopee, says the policy which prioritizes “gender identity” over biological sex creates an “unsafe environment.”

“I think it has just created a lot of risk, a lot of unknown confusion, frustration, anger,” Beckmann said. “It just has a vibe that doesn’t sit right with a lot of us who work at Shakopee because we are a women’s correctional facility.”

“We house every custody level. We have what would be considered low-level offenders who are there on DWI charges, theft charges, drug possession. Then, you bring in biological males who are violent, who would be housed at a custody level four facility. I just believe we’re re-victimizing some of these women, re-traumatizing them. They are incarcerated, however, they all have a past and a lot of their past includes physical, sexual, and emotional abuse. I think allowing men to live amongst these women is traumatizing and it’s also unsafe for staff,” she added.

While asserting that he “wears women’s clothing and in all appearance expresses as a person of the female gender,” the filing argues that Miles was housed in a male facility at Rikers despite allegedly having a court order directing his placement to the female unit.

The suit reveals that following his arrest, Miles informed a judge that he was transgender, and required special housing accommodations to which a judge reportedly agreed. The court file and orders were then marked to notify the prison and their Intake Personnel that Miles was to be housed in the female section of Rikers, but he was not.

“As Miles approached the inside of the building, Miles realized it was a male jail which caused shock, panic and fright to Miles,” the suit reads, referring to Miles using feminine pronouns. “Miles requested and pleaded … that as an LGBTQIA+ individual who was transgendered, she required and needed an accommodation, and that she should not be placed in a male population jail.”

Miles then alleges that a prison staff member said “we don’t do the trans thing here.” He was then strip-searched by a male guard he alleges told him that he had “nice tits” and “one hell of a pussy.” This is despite Miles not having had any known genital surgeries.

Miles continues that he was routinely harassed, “misgendered” and subjected to humiliation during his detention at the George R. Vierno Center. In particular, Miles emphasizes his “sexual victimization” by multiple “African American male” inmates as a result of his placement in a male facility, one of which he alleges sodomized him using butter as lubricant.

Miles is seeking a minimum of $22,000,000 in compensation for the various mistreatments he claims, arguing that the prison’s “unlawful conduct was a direct result of Rikers’ pervasive practices, and customs of discrimination, deliberate indifference, against transgender people.”

Miles is a prolific litigant, and, as previously reported by Reduxx, has filed a number of suits alleging discrimination by various businesses.

In May of 2023, Miles filed a lawsuit against a New York yoga studio seeking compensation of $5,000,000 after employees reportedly asked him to use the men’s restroom instead of the women’s.

In the suit, Miles alleged that the personnel at Chelsea Yoga “deprived [him] of his civil rights because he is gay, undergoing a gender transition, and because Miles does not conform to … gender-based preferences, expectations, or stereotypes about how a man/woman should dress and conduct himself/herself.”

But shortly after that suit was launched, Reduxx learned that Miles had filed at least four other lawsuits, making similar claims of victimization in each.

Dylan Miles. Photo Credit: X / TWITTER.

In February of 2022, Miles filed a civil action for $75,000 in compensation against Sedona Soul Adventures, an Arizona-based business he had previously worked for. Miles alleged that the tourism company had wrongfully terminated his employment shortly after he was hired after subjecting him to “gender identity-based harassment and discrimination.” The suit was dismissed after an out-of-court agreement was reached.

One month later, Miles filed two separate civil actions — one against Planet Fitness and one against Bagel Point, both, again, on the basis of “gender identity-based harassment and discrimination.” In both, Miles represented himself, and failed to use consistent pronouns, often calling himself “Mr. Miles.” 

In his poorly-written civil action, Miles alleged that staff at a Planet Fitness threatened to sound the “lunk alarm” on him for entering the women’s facilities, and used a slur when referring to him. The “lunk alarm” is a fixture seen at most Planet Fitness gyms intended to provide a humorous “warning” to those being too loud or obnoxious in the gym.

Miles demanded compensation of $10,000,000 from Planet Fitness, but the suit was ultimately dismissed after he failed to file the appropriate paperwork and pay $402 in filing fees as requested by the court.

In his action against Bagel Point, a cafe in Brooklyn, Miles sought $75,000 in damages alleging he had been wrongfully terminated and subjected to verbal abuse on the basis of his gender identity.

Miles had been an employee of Bagel Point for a short period of time, during which he claimed the owner, a Muslim woman, had referred to him using slurs and mocked his gender identity, as well as crafting “unsubstantiated” complaints about his performance. The action, which was poorly written and rife with spelling errors, was dismissed by the court once again after Miles failed to file the appropriate paperwork and pay $402 in filing fees.

In yet another suit, Miles sought compensation from New York Presbyterian Hospital, once again claiming to have faced discrimination on the basis of his gender identity. The suit was dismissed and an appeal was not filed.

Though it is unclear when Miles began to identify as a woman, he appears to have converted to Islam around the same time. On his social media pages, he has alluded to learning Arabic and following various Islamic teachings.

While Miles’ past cases were quickly snuffed out of the court system, his most recent suit against the City of New York appears to be proceeding. Having previously represented himself unsuccessfully, Miles has retained an attorney for this suit who has requested the case be referred to the court’s Alternative Dispute Resolution Program (ADR). The ADR is an alternative mediation-style arrangement targeted at speeding up settlement.

Monica, whose surname has been withheld in accordance with German law, filed his bizarre request at the district court of Essen on Wednesday with his defender. He had been released from a women’s prison after completing a combined 30-year sentence for convictions pertaining to the murder of his wife, a burglary attempt, and two instances of taking hostages while incarcerated, including binding a nurse and forcing her to perform “completely degrading sexual acts,” reports Waz.

Currently registered as “female” on his identification, Monica is being held in a psychiatric institution but is seeking permanent placement in a women’s prison on the basis that he believes he can neither be rehabilitated, nor is able to cope with life outside of a jail cell.

Killer Thorsten Heinz P., alias Monica, in Essen district court on January 10. Photo credit: Bild.de

“I can no longer manage my everyday life,” he told Judge Martin Hahnemann at the Essen court, insisting he be returned to a women’s prison. “Sometimes I would like to hit my head against the wall and make it bleed… I don’t deserve freedom – at least not yet. I have caused enough suffering… I’m still dangerous.”

On December 28, 1992, Thorsten Heinz strangled his wife to death with a clothesline at their home in North Rhine-Westphalia. He was sentenced to 13 years in prison for the killing, and at an undisclosed time during his incarceration, began identifying as transgender and taking female hormones.

While detained, he twice took staff as hostages: one victim was a priest, and the other, a nurse, who he proceeded to sexually torment. For these offenses, his sentence was extended to 25 years.

Thorsten was released at the end of his sentence, but soon after threatened two married couples from Iserlohn with robbery in their homes. This, he claimed, was an act of desperation conducted in order to return to prison.

According to limited information provided in media reports on the recent court hearing, Thorsten’s transgender status is a recent development that occurred within the past five years.

He is currently facing charges of faking a crime after turning himself in to the police in Gelsenkirchen while wielding a steak knife and fabricated a story about committing a robbery. Thorsten, referred to in the press as Monica and by feminine pronouns, stated that he had just attacked a stranger in Feldmarkstrasse. However, the alleged victim was able to flee unharmed. When Judge Hahnemann asked him how far he would go to get back to prison, he hesitated, then said in a quiet voice, “I can’t answer that for you… I don’t want to hurt anyone and no longer produce any new victims, so I think I should be locked up forever.”

The case is scheduled for another court hearing on Friday.

According to 2021 government data for the region of North Rhine-Westphalia obtained by German women’s rights activist Madeleine, known on X as @missdelein2, a total of 9 “trans people” were imprisoned for crimes that year, of which five were placed in women’s prisons. Over the last five years, decisions regarding accommodations based on self-declared gender identity had to be made in 39 cases.

Speaking with Reduxx, Madeleine slammed the German government for “insitutional gaslighting” and a failure to “recognize women as human beings.”

“What we are seeing here are the consequences when the German state does not recognize women as human beings. They are locked up with a male killer, and he is rewarded for his crime. The German state has the gall to to call it a women’s prison to validate his so-called ‘gender identity,’ though in reality the prison no longer exists for women,” she said. Madeleine cited research provided by Johann Endres, from the Bavarian prison system’s criminology service, which states that a “legal change of sex in prison” has not yet been made a reality. The Transsexual Law of 1981 requires that an individual undergo a probation period of ostensibly living in the role of their preferred sex before an alteration of sex markers on identification can take place. Therefore, according to Endres, male inmates are being transferred to the female prison estate illicitly.

Endres also reports on complaints from women in prison who felt harassed because one man who has been legally considered a “woman” was touching his testicles while walking in the courtyard.

“As a corrections officer myself, I wasn’t supposed to be stripping male inmates down,” James told National Review. “You’re not supposed to unless it’s an emergency situation. You can get in trouble, it’s considered rape. . . . I’ve been taught that my whole career. Then all of a sudden, now some of these men are saying they are women, but they still have all the parts.”

Two years ago, at the facility, James was told she had to strip-search a trans-identifying male inmate on suicide watch who was checking in to the mental-health department for a 72-hour hold. There was no other female officer around that day to do it, she said.

“I told myself, ‘I’m getting ready to retire, I don’t want to have to do this,’” she said. “But that day I felt pressured into doing it. My sergeant told me I had to do it.”

Another female officer came into the bathroom to cover her as she frisked the inmate.

“The whole time, this inmate is making me feel like I’m doing something wrong,” James said.

Acting embarrassed, he covered his chest area and male genitals. James had to ask him to move his hand to make sure he wasn’t concealing a weapon or drugs to self-harm. The inmate requested on paper that a female rather than male officer check him.

“I didn’t feel comfortable about it, but I had to do my job,” she said.

James started to cry on the phone as she recounted the day. With a background in nursing, James said she didn’t expect to be so shaken from the incident. It felt degrading for both her and the inmate, she said.

“I didn’t realize how disgusted I felt after that until I walked out,” she said. James said she broke down in front of her friend as she explained what had happened.

“It was just not right,” she said. “Because I had been taught all that time that I wasn’t supposed to do that. It was really hard on me, even thinking about it today.”

While they’re now required to search male inmates, not so long ago, female officers could be punished for searching inmates of the opposite sex, even if they felt the search was justified due to an emergency situation.

A corrections officer of 19 years, who chose to remain anonymous out of fear of professional retribution, was transferred to Chino from a maximum-security facility in 2017, before the current gender-inclusion policy was implemented. Soon after arriving at the prison, the guard was disciplined for searching a male inmate who a colleague believed was hiding potentially dangerous contraband.

The search was conducted after a fellow female officer asked the guard for assistance because she witnessed what she believed was an exchange of contraband between two inmates who were prohibited from interacting.

“Just as I’m approaching him, the toilet flushes, which is a sign that he probably got rid of the contraband,” the guard said. “So, I conducted a clothed body search on him, and she was right there next to me. I ended up doing an unclothed body search, which our policy states that a female can under emergency circumstances.”

The guard said she deemed it an emergency because her friend was sure she saw a weapon or drugs in the man’s possession.

“I was completely professional about it and that was it,” she said.

Months later, she received the highest possible level of disciplinary action from her superiors. She appealed the decision on the grounds that the policy is ambiguous about what circumstances qualify as an “emergency.” She lost the case. An official in Chino’s employment office told her confidentially that the department wanted to fire her over the incident.

“Back in 2017, it was two male inmates, but now here we are seven years later, and they want me, if I’m given a direct order, I must strip out that trans inmate,” she said. “What’s the difference from when I stripped out that male inmate to now? It’s still a man.”

Prison officers are told in training that they could be fired for refusing to do a search on the opposite sex because “it’s refusing a direct order from your sergeant,” said James, the recently retired corrections officer.

While some younger female officers are more willing to comply with the new gender-inclusion policy because they’ve never experienced anything different, others expressed concern to James before she retired.

“I had younger officers coming to me saying, ‘Ms. James, what am I going to do?,” she recalled. “They want us to do this with these inmates now.’

Other female guards have reported to James that they think male inmates have requested to be searched by women “just to make the officer see them.”

Asked for comment, the California Department of Corrections reiterated that SB 132, The Transgender Respect, Agency and Dignity Act, allows incarcerated transgender, non-binary and intersex people to request to be housed and searched in a manner consistent with their gender identity.

“Ongoing training for staff and incarcerated people is paramount when handling the unique challenges facing this population,” the department said. “CDCR has developed and provided specialized training to staff to ensure they are aware of laws and departmental policies and to give them the knowledge and tools they need when interacting with the incarcerated transgender and non-binary communities.”

Paula confirmed that California, like Washington State, subsidizes transition procedures for male felons on taxpayer dime.

“We had a guy that was doing 60 years, he was a rapist,” James said. “He became a female, and he was going to go to the female facility, but they paroled him instead. I couldn’t believe it. . . . This guy got released to the streets.”

Once that inmate underwent the intervention, many other trans inmates started seeking out the procedures, she said.

“A lot of sexual predators, I hate to say it, are getting the surgery,” she said. “Even child molesters. It’s not good.”

One male inmate at Chino, after getting a phalloplasty, was brought back to the facility with durable medical equipment. One tool he was given was a dildo, to prevent the incision from closing, the anonymous female officer said.

“The state pays for them to have hair removal,” she added. “The state pays for them to have breast implants. The state pays for them to go to vocal classes.”

James, who worked in the medical area of Chino, often heard the crimes of the male patients.

One such patient was found guilty of consuming child pornography and sexually abusing his girlfriend’s daughter, she said. He too received the surgery from the state, she said.

According to Heather Mason, a Canadian advocate for incarcerated women’s rights, a source at Grand Valley told her that female inmates had been “walking on eggshells” around Honsinger.

“My source revealed that he had significant mental health problems, including schizophrenia, and the women were concerned that he might experience an episode and become violent towards them,” Mason explained. “She pointed out that they were extremely vigilant and kept their distance from him, changing their routines and demeanor to minimize contact and prevent provoking him.”