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Transgender Prisoners Face Brutality

Recent changes to the Bureau of Prisons’ Transgender Offender Manual will lead to increased violence against trans prisoners. The changes will sort trans people not by the gender they are, but the gender they were assigned at birth. Trans women will be sent to men’s prisons, and trans men to women’s prisons, except “in rare cases.” Under the guise of “safety concerns,” they have endangered trans people’s lives, despite the fact that trans prisoners are nine times more likely to be sexually harassed or assaulted.

In many places across the United States, the previous rules, which recommended serious consideration of trans prisoners being placed with those of their own genders (i.e., trans women with other women), were often ignored; now trans prisoners do not even have the meager protections of these rules. Over a fifth of trans people have been in jail or prison, many of them targeted by profiling (such as in New Orleans, where black trans women are routinely profiled as sex workers by NOPD) or arrested for acts of selfdefense (as in the case of Cece McDonald, a trans woman charged with manslaughter for defending herself and her friends against attack).

The recent changes by the Justice Department will also bring an end to the tracking of LGBTQ victims of crimes. The collection of statistics on these crimes have been a useful tool in the past, helping to highlight homophobic and transphobic hate-crimes and showing the need for action against oppressive policies. These new rules will mean more and more trans people will face harassment, assault, rape, or even murder in prison.

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Attacks on Title IX Threaten Trans People

Last year, the Department of Education rolled back previously-won support for transgender students, but until this year, it was unclear how far they would take it. Recently, cases brought before them have been rejected and their intentions are clear: they no longer recognize the inclusion of “gender identity” under Title IX, the law that guarantees equal access to students to school activities. Not only has this allowed schools to deny trans students access to school activities, but it has also removed bathroom access from the list of protections under the law.

This exclusion will allow schools to force trans students to use facilities designated to their birth-assigned genders. For many trans students, this will make them vulnerable. It is a signal that these institutions do not recognize their genders as valid, which not only causes personal distress to the students, but also endorses harassment from students and staff.

The Education Department is playing a dangerous game, trying to split hairs over what is and what isn’t sexist discrimination in order to support the fear-mongering tactics that have demonized and endangered trans people for decades. The truth is that this is yet another ploy to divide the working class and reverse a minor victory for LGBTQ people, a part of the assault on everything we have fought for. We must build solidarity and demand equality for all!

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Trans People Excluded from Capitalist Society

By Sally Jane Black

The law provides little protection for trans people. In New Orleans, a recent poll showed that 87% of black trans women had been sexually harassed or assaulted by members of NOPD, and across the nation, the police and other authorities do little to prevent crime against trans people. Since January 2017, 28 trans people have been murdered in the United States, including two in New Orleans. Almost all of them have been people of color. Almost none of their killers have been brought to justice. Furthermore, over 40% of trans people attempt to kill themselves. These statistics do not take into account trans people who are not out, or whose families hide their identities after they died. The real numbers are much higher.

Across the board, trans people have been excluded from capitalist society. Trans people are at higher risk of being homeless, bullied, abandoned by their families, or denied healthcare services or jobs. “Right to work” states, which target all workers, make it possible for trans people to be fired for being trans. Health insurance policies routinely classify necessary medical treatments as ineligible for coverage, for the few trans people who can afford insurance.
Meanwhile, in socialist Cuba, the government has created the National Center for Sex Education (CENESEX) to advocate tolerance and educate the population on issues of gender, sexuality, and sex. Despite the fact that trans people make up a small percentage of the island’s population, the Cuban government has made promoting support for trans people a priority, and healthcare for trans people—including hormone treatments and surgery—is provided free within the nation’s universal healthcare system.

The contrast between the response from Cuba and the United States could not be starker. The ruling class in the United States sees trans people as a prop to be used to inspire infighting in all who resist it; the Cuban people seek to embrace all members of their society. Transphobia is an inherent part of the capitalist patriarchy; it will not be defeated and we will not be safe until capitalism is gone.

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The Dirt on Dat Dog

By Max Wilde

In a city where 40% of the population earns just 7.5% of the total city-wide income, and women make just 67 cents for ever dollar a man makes, it’s easy to imagine that the food and hospitality industry is hell for working women–especially with bosses like John Besh. In October of last year, 25 women came forward with horror stories of the sexual harassment they faced while working at his New Orleans restaurants. Sadly, to many working class people in New Orleans, it wasn’t surprising that a dirtbag business owner would assault his employees and allow or encourage management to do the same.

One unsurprised worker is also a locally famous street performer named Qween Amore who has grown accustomed to harassment and discrimination on and off the clock. “As a trans person of color, I’ve come to realize that safety is a privilege, and in my experience, I am never truly safe” Qween told Workers Voice. Only last November, she was fired from Dat Dog on Frenchmen. The reason for the firing? “The last time I went to dance [in the Quarter] I was attacked by a brass band. They stole my equipment and proceeded to further assault me, so I ran into Dat Dog seeking protection. The cops were called, and I got arrested for disturbing the peace… A couple days later, Dat Dog decided to fire me because I ran inside and the brass band followed me in.”

According to The U.S. Transgender Survey, 77% of trans respondents who had a job in the past year took steps to avoid mistreatment in the workplace, such as hiding or delaying their gender transition or quitting their job, and 30% reported being fired, denied a promotion, or experiencing some other form of mistreatment related to their gender identity or expression.

Dat Do’,s management firing an employee for being the victim of transmisogynistic violence would be more shocking if they didn’t already have a history of gendered abuse. And in the very few cases where a manager stepped down or was let go for their behavior, new bosses are always willing and ready to take on the sexist mantle. It’s not ‘a few bad apples’ that make working in the hospitality and food industry so hard for so many women, but rather the oppressive position of bosses in the lives of workers and the role of men in the lives of women.