[Portlandabc] [Fwd] idea for a trans-prisoner campaign

[Susan Nash]

Thought you might like to know about this person's idea, below. It seems
like a good one and something we could perhaps engage some community
support in taking an interest in. Maybe we can talk about it and then
reply to them.
Suna
---------------------------- Original Message ----------------------------
Subject:
From:    wearealreadydead at riseup.net
Date:    Tue, March 18, 2014 5:09 pm
To:      wearealreadydead at riseup.net
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Hello everyone,

my name is Khalil, and I work with a group called Indiana Queer Prisoner
Solidarity. I'm writing to you with a proposal: to start a large
collective project of getting trans women transferred out of men's
prisons, if that's what those individuals want, all over the United
States.

I'll be frank: I am not interested in prison reform. Nor am I a prison
abolitionist; I'm an anarchist, and my goals are even larger than the end
of prison. However, it is very clear that, for many trans women, not being
imprisoned in mens' facilities would make a substantial improvement in
their daily lives. Even those of you who are not trans feminine are
probably well aware of the kind of mortal danger, sexual assault, physical
abuse, and harassment many trans women experience every day--particularly
in prison, and especially in mens' facilities. Removing some of that harm
and risk from the lives of the people we know in prison is would be a
substantial achievement.

The time seems right for such a push. In 2012, the Department of Justice
finally created standards of practice around the Prison Rape Elimination
Act, standards that say that trans prisoners' housing preferences should
be the first consideration, and that administrative segregation is not an
acceptable answer to the housing difficulties trans prisoners face. On a
related note, it also seems more possible than ever to get trans prisoners
access to hormones. And, thanks to CeCe McDonald's fight against her
transphobic and racist attackers and prison sentence, as well as various
pop culture reference points like "Orange Is The New Black", the struggle
of trans women prisoners is more a part of the mainstream conversation
than it perhaps ever has been before.

I'm well-aware that I'm proposing a very large endeavor. I'm reaching out
to you because I don't have the resources or knowledge it takes to do a
project of this magnitude. Indiana Queer Prisoner Support is slowly
beginning to learn how to get prisons to transfer our friends, to create
assurances for trans women in the free world that they won't be forced to
go to a men's prison if incarcerated, and other related matters, and we
will continue to grow our skills even if no one else picks this idea up.
But I know many of you, and if not you, your work--I have a great deal of
admiration for your resourcefulness and dedication. It's very possible
that some of you are working on this or similar projects already, and that
all we need to do is connect. If that's the case, or if this is something
that interests you, please write me back.

Possible starting points I see for the project include:
-asking the trans women prisoners we know if they'd be interested in being
transferred;
--working state-by-state (or even facility by facility) to establish the
requirements they have for determining people's "suitability" for
incarceration in women's facilities (as there is no clear framework that
I'm aware of presently, it's all individuals making personal calls)
--getting trans women prisoners access to the resources they need to
fulfill these requirements (diagnoses, paperwork)
--fighting these requirements when they are particularly unreasonable
-waging a publicity war against the detractors that will undoubtably
arise, and raising awareness of the inhumanity of prison in general and
for trans people in specific

Obviously, this conversation could go on forever, but I'd like to find out
who's interested in having it before I become overwhelming. Thanks for
reading, and let me know if you'd like to talk further.

yours in solidarity,
Khalil for INQPS