I Compiled and Mapped All Trans-Related Prison Policies In The US. I Came Away Completely Disgusted At Our Prison System.

When society looks the other way, prisoners' rights erode. In the US, it's starting with trans inmates.

I’ll be honest: when I started researching prison policies surrounding trans people two weeks ago as part of Transitics’ CATPALM Project—which aims to compile every trans-related law, order, and policy in the United States—I didn’t care much about prisoner rights issues. Growing up, I was taught that those that end up in our country’s jails deserve it, and I never really bothered to question that philosophy.

In a perfect world, maybe that would’ve been true, but since the start of Trump’s second term, it’s become abundantly clear that this isn’t the case. It seems like there are new headlines every day about Immigration and Customs Enforcement, among other things, raiding the wrong homes, wrongfully deporting citizens, sending people to countries they aren’t from, being indifferent to and/or outright celebrating the suffering of those in custody, and deporting kids that are getting treatment for cancer. But if ICE wasn’t being wielded as a political tool by the current administration, how much would we know about what it’s doing? Because while ICE hasn’t really been able to hide its actions without anyone asking questions, correctional institutions have been afforded that freedom for far too long, especially when it comes to trans people.

For Their Eyes Only

As I did my research, two truths became increasingly apparent. What is somehow the least concerning truth of the two is that many prison policies—trans-related and in general—aren’t always followed. In states both red and blue, there have been countless lawsuits concerning the repeated and deliberate denial of medically necessary healthcare (even when treatment began before incarceration) and indifference towards the harassment of trans inmates by other inmates and correctional officers alike. However, most inmates are not aware of their rights, and as such, they don’t even know their rights are being violated. And many states go to considerable lengths to keep it that way.

That brings us to truth number two: most states don’t want their correctional policies seen or understood. Vague statements of assurance and noncommittal language are littered throughout prison guidelines, and in some cases, states outright suppress their correctional policies. It’s at the point where researching state-level Medicaid and nationwide insurance policies was multiple orders of magnitude easier, and that’s an industry that only exists because it strives to wiggle itself out of everything it can conceivably get away with. But as hard as they may be to find, these policies do exist. Here’s a map of every state’s gender-affirming care policy when it comes to inmates:

See CATPALM’s main article for sources.

Currently, 6 states—plus Idaho, whose law is blocked—don’t even bother to be vague and explicitly say they will not provide hormone therapy to transgender inmates under any circumstances. Additionally, South Carolina will only provide it if the inmate began treatment prior to their arrest. Among these 8 states are Florida and Utah, which are the only states in the United States that have laws on the books criminalising trans people for using restrooms that align with our gender identities.

Although they aren’t enforced, if they ever are, whoever breaks them will be sent to prison and detransitioned against their will. For a crime that was quite literally conjured out of thin air. And while federal standards (which most states follow) mandate states determine the placement of trans inmates on a ‘case-by-case’ basis, banning them from accessing hormone therapy all but ensures they will never be placed according to their gender identity. See the map below for placement policies by state.

See CATPALM’s main article for sources.

The Law Is Not Enough

Courts (even conservative ones) are usually sympathetic to challenges to these policies under 8th Amendment grounds. This is because it’s exceedingly difficult to justify not providing something that’s medically necessary when there is no alternative to accessing it. But whenever prisoner rights are brought up outside of a legal setting, the conversation usually gets ad hominem—that is, the conversation is redirected towards the crime the person committed. This is especially true when it comes to conservative opposition to providing gender-affirming care to inmates.

But this argument is dangerous, because if the government is allowed to determine a subset of crimes that are heinous enough to warrant a total removal of human rights, that definition can then be expanded by a malicious actor. In some countries with no substantial human rights, this has already happened, and the LGBTQ+ community is often a target. We’re seeing this here now. A few weeks ago, President Trump signed an executive order titled ‘Ending Crime and Disorder on America’s Streets’, which seeks to ramp up the prosecution of homeless people in the United States. And on Monday, he gave himself the power to enforce this in Washington DC by nationalising the DC National Guard.

If Trump is able to enforce the clause in Executive Order 14168 prohibiting the Bureau of Prisons from providing gender-affirming care to inmates, a lot more trans people—who are more prone to homelessness than the general population—will be at risk of being detransitioned against their will. Even if the provision in the order is struck down, I can’t imagine federal prisons will make it easy for trans inmates, especially those who don’t know their rights. In these times, it’s imperative that every one of us knows what we’re entitled to should the worst come to pass.

In the descent towards authoritarianism, prisoner rights are often the first to fall. While the fight hasn’t been lost yet, we must stay vigilant. When prisoner rights are lost, it won’t be amidst a firestorm of headlines, but a consensus of indifference. And under this administration, if prisons are allowed to continue to operate away from the public eye and accountability, there’s no telling the harms that could potentially be unleashed onto the trans community and this nation as a whole.