Comments on: Transgender People and the Prison System

By: Woman Speaks Out Against Abuses of Trans Prisoners in Idaho : The Curvature

Woman Speaks Out Against Abuses of Trans Prisoners in Idaho : The Curvature — Wed, 08 Apr 2009 16:58:04 +0000

[...] are women of color; another group that both women fall into.) They are physically assaulted and sexually abused. And they are not only regularly falsely identified as male and housed in male prisons; very [...]

By: damia

damia — Sat, 08 Dec 2007 00:13:15 +0000

Sylvia Rivera Law Project also released a report on the experiences of trans and intersex people in men’s prisons earlier this year:

http://www.srlp.org/index.php?sec=03N&page=warinhere

By: Rachel

Rachel — Fri, 07 Dec 2007 20:22:46 +0000

Sadly, Cara, I don’t know either.

By: Cara

Cara — Fri, 07 Dec 2007 19:20:58 +0000

Thanks for sharing, Rachel. Sadly, your description is one that I hear often. And unfortunately, all of the cops that I have met in my life (a dozen?) were assholes. I’m sure that there has to be some good ones out there, but I sure don’t know where to find them.

But I don’t really think that it’s an either/or question. The system encourages this kind of behavior. The system trains law enforcement to accept and condone this kind of behavior. And positions of authority often do attract bad, control-freak types. It seems to me that there are bad people/cops, and then there is also a bad system turning decent people into bad people/cops (obviously, I do not know which category your father would fall into).

By: Rachel

Rachel — Fri, 07 Dec 2007 18:11:35 +0000

My father was a state trooper for 25 years. I learned a lot from him, as every child does from their parents, but I think I really learned the most about him as a person after he retired in 2000: he is racist, homophobic, and sexist. And he was a “good cop,” too.

But what I also learned after he retired (he never spoke of his job much while in it) is how little he cares for “criminals.” And once someone was labeled that way in his eyes, that’s how they stayed – subhuman, breathing piles of shit with no values or morals, basically. And certainly no value to society. I don’t think he really believes in the concept of rehabilitation.

So when I think of prison guards, I think of my father – who was not one, but received sort of similar training – and I am not at all surprised when I find out about what they do. I think as part of their role in the prisons, they really find it necessary to dehumanize the prisoners. Otherwise, if they looked at them as “people” instead of “numbers,” they’d have to understand that they’re not better on the inside than the people they’re locking in every night.

Asking for prison systems to ensure the well-being and safety of prisoners shouldn’t be a laughable task – but considering that prisons refuse to distribute condoms in the male populations because it will “encourage” sexual assault, despite the fact that HIV rates in prisons are on the rise, can we really expect that they will take any extra steps toward offering protection to a “special interest” group like transpeople? And go ahead – say the word “transgender” to a cop. Watch his face. It’s so totally disheartening.

Of course, that’s all based on my own experience with a very small group of state troopers – my father and his friends. But I think to a certain extent one can extrapolate those characteristics a bit.

The most obvious step, in my mind, toward protection for transpeople and gay prisoners would be to institute a training course for law enforcement officials of any capacity that doesn’t condition them to think that “trans,” “gay” and “queer” are wrong.

But of course, that’s like asking a bear to lay eggs.