There is no doubt that California is one of the strongest bastions of liberal beliefs in the US.
A Saturday law that California Governor Gavin Newsom just signed, which will house transgender inmates based on their gender identity, is the latest evidence of its progressiveness.
Prior to Saturday, California had been separating its inmates based on their sex as men or women. For trans inmates, this meant that they were housed based on their sex at birth. Activists have decried the regulations, saying that it puts trans woman in men’s cells at high danger.
According to the new law, correctional facility officers are now mandated to have private conversations with inmates asking their gender identity. The responses will no longer be a binary choice, and include options such as transgender and unisex.
Following this meeting, the inmates can then lawfully request that they be housed in a man’s or woman’s facility. The wordings of the new law states that the officers can’t reject these requests for any other reason except security concerns. Moreover, they must explain their decision to the inmates.
Democratic Senator Scott Weiner, who wrote the bill, said he does not predict the exemption cause to be used often. Saying that there is society-wide prejudice and hatred towards the trans population, Weiner added that trans women in particular have been prone to violence in the past.
The law stretches even further by allowing inmates to raise a concern at any time if they feel unsafe at where they are housed in. Should these complaints be filed, the state is mandated to reassess the environment and the claims to ensure the safest environment to the inmates.
Michelle Calvin, a trans woman who has been imprisoned for 15 years, said the new law was a big step forward for their community. Calvin recalled the numerous times during her time in prison in which she was not properly addressed or recognized as a woman.
Similar laws have been signed in other liberal leaning states in the US. Connecticut, Rhode Island, New York and Massachusetts all have laws that respect the inmate’s self-identified gender rather than their sex at birth.
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Replaced!