Sexual and Gender Minorities and Special Needs

Differentiating Sexual and Gender Minorities

A person's sexual orientation is to whom a person is emotionally, romantically, and sexually attracted. Gender identity is how a person self-identifies as a particular gender, regardless of physical sex characteristics. Corrections staff do not always recognize the distinction between sexual and gender orientations; some staff see those who identify as transgender as “gay” and vice versa.

Transgenderism describes the situation when a person is born a certain sex anatomically, but identifies, and wishes to live, as a different gender rather than as the sex the person's anatomy dictates. Sometimes, persons who identify as transgender are diagnosed with gender identity disorder (GID), a mental health condition represented by a conflict between a person's physical sex and the gender that person identifies as being. Treatment for GID is guided by the Harry Benjamin Standards of Care. However, some persons who identify as transgender wish to undergo either partial or no medical intervention.

Challenges of SGM Inmates

Both sexual and gender minorities encounter discrimination in the corrections system not only from fellow inmates but also from corrections staff. This discrimination is manifested through unequal treatment, unnecessary segregation, harassment, and violence toward SGM prisoners.

For those who are transgender, the gender-segregated organization of the corrections system is especially problematic. A person who is biologically male but identifies as female is often placed by the courts in a facility that corresponds with the person's anatomy rather than that person's identity. (Although persons who are biologically female but identify as male face a similar problem, there is no research to date on this population in corrections.) Such placement puts a transgender person at greater risk for assault, and the prison system at risk for liability. Transgender female inmates are disproportionately victims of sexual assault. To address this violence, some prisons have placed transgender persons in [Page 417]isolation, which not only does not guarantee protection but also subjects the victim to harsher conditions without due cause.

Some transgender prisoners are not allowed to be referred to by the gender-congruent name they prefer over their birth name because of prison regulations that restrict the use of aliases. The application of this law demonstrates disrespect toward the individual's gender status. Other prisoners are simply referred to by their birth name or pronoun out of disrespect or ignorance on the part of corrections staff.

Persons specifically diagnosed with GID are at risk for being denied proper medical care for their condition. Medical consensus states that persons receiving treatment for GID should continue to receive the Benjamin Standards of Care while incarcerated. However, because of bias, lack of medical expertise, lack of facilities, or a combination of these factors, such medical treatment is rare within the prison system.

Challenges of SGM Juvenile Offenders

SGM youths face discrimination not only from society at large but also directly from their families. Many youths become involved in the court system because of a breakdown in the parent-child relationship. More than one quarter of those who leave their families do so because of conflicts over their sexual orientation, and many become homeless; it is estimated that between 20 and 40 percent of homeless youths do not identify as heterosexual. Given their unstable family and living situations, sexual minority youths may be more likely to commit nonviolent survival crimes.

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