Around New England

Connecticut About To Start Letting Transgender Prisoners Pick Their Prison

May 27, 2018

Starting July 1, convicts in Connecticut who identify with a gender other than their biological sex will be able to pick whether they go to a prison for men or a prison for women.

The new state law is the first in the country.

“In addition to housing, it also gives inmates the right to be searched by a correction officer who matches their self-identified gender, to be addressed in a manner consistent with their gender identity and have access to commissary items, such as clothing, that matches their gender identity,” states a story in the Hartford Courant.

The executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union of Connecticut, David McGuire, called it “the most protective transgender policy and law in the country, according to the Courant.

But it’s not just a matter of declaring which prison you want to go to, according to a state official.

“If you are a guy, do you just say you’re a woman and you get to go to a woman’s prison? No. There is a very elaborate analysis, psychological and otherwise,” said Mike Lawlor, the governor’s undersecretary for criminal justice policy and planning, according to the Courant.