Sheriff's Department Improves Transgender Inmate Experience

The Denver prison system just got a little safer for the transgender inmates it houses. The shift is due to a new group of policies aimed at protecting transgender inmates. The policies are long time coming, as many prominent organizations have been weighing in on the new practices for almost two years.

"This is a necessary policy for the safety of transgender and gender-variant inmates, and I'm proud that Denver now has one of the most progressive policies in the nation," said GLBT Community Center of Colorado Co-Chair Courtney Gray.

The Denver Sheriff Department and The Center have been collaborating on the development of the new practices for almost two years. The policies are a joint effort from Gray, The Center's Legal Director Mindy Barton, the ACLU of Denver and the Denver Sheriff, in addition to a 40-member committee comprised of the Sheriff Department's staff, put in place after Director of Corrections Gary Wilson reached out to the mayor's GLBT Commission for insight.

The wide-sweeping changes set Denver up to be one of the most progressive areas in the nation once all policies are enacted in January. At the forefront are changes to the way transgender inmates from transport to booking and housing.

"There is a human rights crisis in this country when it comes to transgender people in prison. Transgender people who are incarcerated experience alarming rates of violence. Efforts to make systemic changes to reduce this violence are incredibly necessary," said Transgender Law Center Director of Policy and Programs Kristina Wertz.

A recent survey released by the National Center for Transgender Equality found 22 percent of transgender individuals interacting with law enforcement reported experiencing harassment, and of those who spent time in jail reported 37 percent more harassment than their peers.

The new policies give those who identify as transgender the option to fill out a form with their preferred name and pronoun, as well as a preference for the gender of the person who will search their bodies. The policy also creates a transgender review board that includes a community advocate who can work with the staff to assist in determining issues such as which population an inmate should be placed in.

"Unfortunately, most of transgender inmates who contact the Transgender Law Center are either placed in solitary confinement or in incredibly unsafe situations. Most of the people we here from are not having their gender identities respected by prison staff. These policies address both of those issues in a manner that is constructive and puts safety first," said Wertz.

Currently, transgender inmates are often held in a nearly constant lockdown for their own protection. These 23-hour lockdowns are more expensive than housing people in the general population, and while a single cell might be a safe alternative in some cases, the new policy will allow for trans inmates to participate in group activities, classes and work release.

In May, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) released landmark National Standards to Prevent, Detect and Respond to Prison Rape. The announcement was met with little fanfare. But for the transgender community, who will directly benefit from these critical provisions, the announcement was hailed as a victory.

In the National Transgender Discrimination Survey, seven percent of respondents reported being locked up at some point in their lives due to their gender identity. These rates skyrocketed for Black (41 percent) and Latino/a (21 percent) people.

Additionally, a May 2012 report by the DOJ confirmed that LGBT people face shocking rates of sexual abuse; an analysis of that report by the NCTE shows that more than one in three transgender former inmates was sexually abused. Studies have shown that trans women are 13 times more likely than others to be sexually assaulted while incarcerated.

"The safety of trans people behind bars is of particular concern because too often trans people are incarcerated only because they are transgender or because of how they've been forced to live because of being trans," National Center for Transgender Education Executive Director Mara Keisling told Edge earlier this year.

And Denver isn't the only city making changes in their treatment of transgender inmates.

"More and more cities are prioritizing keeping transgender people safe in jail. Los Angeles recently updated their transgender policies with lots of community input, including input from the Transgender Law Center," said Wertz.

The Center plans to continue to work with the Sheriff's Department through the implementation of the new policies and will review the process as needed.