Picture the scene,smells of bento and noodles wafting around the air folks hurrying around with plates of sushi piled high and me and my uncle, dragging a huge beast of a suticase through the mouth of the anthill that is Kings Cross, talking about trans rights..of all things!
My uncle was telling me about the establishment he works in, as my jaw was dropped further towards the scuffed floor. The things that he was telling me seemed like myths, as if human rights had got hold of a time turner and we were back in the pink triangle ages where everyone spoke polari and gay was a disease.
Prisoners that are transitioning (Male to female or female to male) will still be put in a institute of the sex that they were born with, i.e a male to female transexual will be put in a male prison, even if they are becoming female. Trans prisoners will get their prescripted hormone's taken off them, basically stopping their transition all together.
Opressive and soul destroying?
SO THIS IS WHY THIS ARTICLE ON PINK NEWS MAKES ME INDESCRIBABLY HAPPY *GRINS*
"New Guidelines for Transgender Prisoners"
The document says: “An establishment must permit prisoners who consider themselves transsexual and wish to begin gender reassignment to live permanently in their acquired gender.
“Transsexual people, particularly those who have not undergone surgery or extended hormone therapy, may use various items to assist with their presentation in their acquired gender. These can range from sophisticated prostheses to padded bras.
“Regardless of their level of sophistication, access to them can only be restricted in exceptional circumstances.
“These items may only be prohibited when it can be demonstrated that they present a security risk which cannot be reasonably mitigated.”
Transgender people who are undergoing medical treatment to change sex are required to live in the sex they are changing to for a period of time. This is known as real life experience or real life test.
The guidelines say trans prisoners will be permitted to order appropriate clothes at their own expense and staff should address them by their chosen names and titles. Prison officers must currently address inmates as Mr, Miss or Ms.
Trans women who are legally recognised in their new gender must be placed in female prisons unless there are security reasons not to do so, the document says.
Those who have not yet acquired a Gender Recognition Certificate will not automatically be placed in the appropriate prison. Instead, the document says, a meeting will be held to determine where they should be placed.
Rules say: “This is a legal issue rather than an anatomical one, and under no circumstances should a physical search or examination be conducted for this purpose.”
Trans campaigners estimate that there are between 20 and 30 trans individuals in UK prisons at any time.
"New Guidelines for Transgender Prisoners"
New Ministry of Justice guidelines set out rights for transgender prisoners, including what they may wear and how prison staff should treat them.
The rules, which come into force on March 14th, tell prison officers that they must allow trans prisoners to wear make-up, gender appropriate clothing and prostheses, such as bra inserts.The document says: “An establishment must permit prisoners who consider themselves transsexual and wish to begin gender reassignment to live permanently in their acquired gender.
“Transsexual people, particularly those who have not undergone surgery or extended hormone therapy, may use various items to assist with their presentation in their acquired gender. These can range from sophisticated prostheses to padded bras.
“Regardless of their level of sophistication, access to them can only be restricted in exceptional circumstances.
“These items may only be prohibited when it can be demonstrated that they present a security risk which cannot be reasonably mitigated.”
Transgender people who are undergoing medical treatment to change sex are required to live in the sex they are changing to for a period of time. This is known as real life experience or real life test.
The guidelines say trans prisoners will be permitted to order appropriate clothes at their own expense and staff should address them by their chosen names and titles. Prison officers must currently address inmates as Mr, Miss or Ms.
Trans women who are legally recognised in their new gender must be placed in female prisons unless there are security reasons not to do so, the document says.
Those who have not yet acquired a Gender Recognition Certificate will not automatically be placed in the appropriate prison. Instead, the document says, a meeting will be held to determine where they should be placed.
Rules say: “This is a legal issue rather than an anatomical one, and under no circumstances should a physical search or examination be conducted for this purpose.”
Trans campaigners estimate that there are between 20 and 30 trans individuals in UK prisons at any time.
I actually did a small victory dance when I read this, this morning. It's something i'm campaigning for in our LGBT uni society just now, and we're having an event called "Gender Behind Bars : The facts" where we'll screen the documentary "Cruel and Unusual" about trans-life in prisons, and have a skype chat with the director Janet Baus too!
Now we can watch that documentary knowing that those mistreated human beings will never be mistreated like that again in the UK. The documentary really is very harrowing but I would encourage you to watch it, there are some horrific scenes, but it really illustrates just how bad trans discrimination in prisons can be.
Sure, the new guidelines do not state that trans-prisoners can be given hormones, but at least they can wear what they feel comfortable in and not be mocked for it, this new legislation gives me hope for fighting trans discrimination, who knows, we may even reach a point where trans people feel that a prison is a safespace for them (although obviously you wouldn't encourage them to be in one).
This day marks a huge milestone in human rights, I am so pleased to see people taking notice of this travesty and working against it.
Very happy bunny today, shall we mark it with a wee poem?
Love on the Wing
Love on the Wing
The bars around me are steel
Long poles that hold me captive
Like voodoo pins
My confidence stabbed like soft raw meat
By their piercing words.
Today
As I pull back the itchy woollen blanket
The sun seems brighter
It seems to skewer the black blinds
Like a hot poker
Leaves a burn triumphant stain
The bars that incase my pink heart
Feel fluid
I feel I could break the binary
That holds me static in a symbols womb.
Mould the symbols like plasticine.
My hands Mix blue with pink,
Sculpt new meanings
New beginnings.
Today I wore lipstick on the wing
They couldn’t shout or jeer
Kept quiet by the golden laws
That some choose not to hear
When god made adam out of rib
He set the binary
And now we’re breaking bars like twigs
And now we’re breaking free
I'll edit this at some point, but for now i'll say goodnight, you beautiful world
xxxxxx
This is really lovely, especially the poem.
ReplyDeleteI like the line:
"I feel I could break the binary
That holds me static in a symbols womb."
There's still a long way to go on this issue. I'd like to know if the crimes trans prisoners are in for are generally more severe or less severe or if it makes no difference (i.e. there's no correlation between being transgender [specifically living as a transgender person in a heteronormative society] and the type of crime they are put away for).
But yes, I think this is a step in the right direction. Yes. I'm going to have to look into it a lot more though :P.
Thanks for posting.
I wrote a huge reply to this, then realised I wasn't signed in as myself. So...lets just sum it up with this
ReplyDeleteTrans prisoners: I think it completely depends on the individual and the crime tey've commited, their history etc. Also there is the safety of the other prisoners to consider, and the t-prisoner themselves.
And even if they have committed a serious crime, their safety is still at risk..urgh its a can of worms, good to see the new legislation still acknowledges it though.
Thanks for the feedback on the poem :) not my best, and needs tweaking but I liked that line too, it had strong visual connatations when I wrote it
Ta for commenting chuck x