top of page

Welcome to Crime and Justice News

'We Do Not Exist Anymore,' Says Trans Inmate About Trump Policy

Crime and Justice News

Transgender women in federal prisons are being told to hand over any female-identifying clothing and other commissary items, like women's razors and hair care, according to a new Bureau of Prisons policy. The new rules are being implemented after an executive order from President Trump called on the bureau to move trans women out of women's federal prisons and end gender affirming care. That order is facing at least two challenges in federal court. Late Tuesday, a judge in Washington, D.C., in one of the cases temporarily blocked the removal of three transgender women from a women's prison, NPR reports. NPR obtained a copy of the new clothing policy, dated Feb. 3, that was shared with inmates of the federal Seagoville prison, a low-security men's institution in a Dallas suburb. The rules pose a significant change for the incarcerated trans community. "In here, we do not exist anymore," said one trans inmate at Seagoville prison "We are dodos."


She said tearfully that as of Tuesday morning trans women were instructed to hand over their female clothing and were to be given male clothing. Providing gender-affirming clothing for individuals suffering from gender dysphoria (the deep discomfort caused by a mismatch between a person's assigned sex at birth and their gender identity) is considered a critical component to treating the condition. An employee at Seagoville confirmed that this was a policy change passed down to all federal prisons with trans inmates. The new policy cancels trainings that "inculcate or promote gender ideology or have done so in the past," and disbands any group programs that "promote gender ideology," including group therapy sessions. It ends the "transgender visual and pat search exception" that had allowed trans inmates to request a guard who aligns with their gender identity. The White House has defended its changes as an effort to protect women and to "safeguard women's spaces from biological men."

87 views

Recent Posts

See All

Comments


A daily report co-sponsored by Arizona State University, Criminal Justice Journalists, and the National Criminal Justice Association

bottom of page