“This is a Human Rights Bill. Period.” – Trans Prisoners’ Rights Coalition Advocates for the G.I.R.D.S Act

The Gender, Identity, Respect, Dignity and Safety Act, more commonly known as the G.I.R.D.S. Act, is a proposed legislative bill in the New York State Senate that would require all New York prisons and jails to house Trans, Gender Non-Conforming, Non-Binary, and Intersex (TGNCNBI) people in accordance with their gender identity, as well as making sure they get access to gender affirming medical care and personal items.

The bill stalled in committee during this year’s legislative session, but advocates say their push is far from over.

The Trans Prisoners’ Rights Coalition (TPRC) is working to raise awareness and build momentum for the next legislative cycle

The passage of the G.I.R.D.S. Act would be a blanket coverage of protection for trans folks in all New York State prisons and jails. However, according to Mik Kinkead, New York State Attorney and TPRC Representative, and Grace Detrevarah, LGBTQ Liaison and Case Management Assistant at the Osborne Association, it is only one step in fixing a carceral system that invalidates and criminalizes trans identity.

17% of those who identify as transgender have reported facing incarceration, and 1 in 2 Black trans people have been incarcerated nationwide, according to the National LGBTQ Task Force.

Once behind bars, the security, surveillance, and discrimination trans folks face becomes twofold. Kinkead notes that the discrimination TGNCNBI people experience behind bars leads to longer sentencing times, often for those wrongfully convicted.

“Unfortunately, people in general find us to be not credible,” said Kinkead. “There’s this sense that you are allowed to question who a trans person is.”

Kinkead and Detrevarah’s work has mainly been focused on New York City jails, but Kinkead also notes that county to county incremental changes can be a start in achieving the bill’s ultimate goal. Broome, Steuben, and Jefferson counties, in addition to 15 other New York State counties, have implemented policies in their sheriff’s department that are in line with G.I.R.D.S. after litigation. However, Kinkead advises that these policies can be undone with administrative changes.

“A lot of this is also about the training of the corrections officers,” said Detrevarah, “This law will be an additive that they will now have to give respect, not choose whether they want to give it or not.”

Still, Kinkead and Detrevarah hope that this bill can be the first step not only in increasing the protections of LGBTQ+ individuals in the carceral system, but also to rethink the history and future of incarceration in the United States.

“We hope G.I.R.D.S. builds towards a world where we completely rethink this carceral system,” said Kinkead. “People come home and they say ‘I have seen people treated with horrible disrespect, and I have seen that the law does not apply equally.’ Hopefully G.I.R.D.S. starts to change that conversation and say that there is respect inherent in every single person who is in the carceral system.”

While the State Senate and Assembly are currently not in session, Kinkead advises allies to continue to reach out to their elected officials about this bill in order to show widespread support in a time when trans rights are under attack at both the state and federal level. In addition, Detrevarah encourages people to educate themselves on the history of trans identity and human rights and labor challenges in the carceral system.

For more information, Detrevarah and Kinkead recommend agencies that do similar work to TPRC, including The New Pride Agenda, Legal Aid Society, Sylvia Rivera Law Project, and Black and Pink.

“If you have to put the ‘LGBTQ’ in front of respect, then we really do have a bigger conversation,” said Detrevarah. “But that’s where we’re at right now.”

Image: Members of the Trans Prisoners’ Rights Coalition organize in support of the G.I.R.D.S. Act. (Photo Credit: transprisonersrightsny.com)