The policy allows for inmates with a gender identity different from their assigned sex at birth to elect to be housed “with persons of the gender that is consistent with such person’s gender identity.”
Prison wardens would have the final say in the decision to let an inmate change facilities, which will be handled on a case-by-case basis.
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Transgender inmates will also have the right to “gender-affirming medical and mental health care.”
The policy requests that the Department of Correctional Services and Supervision commissioner create rules and training for officers to prevent discrimination against transgender inmates.
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“No employee of the department shall misgender any individual in the care or custody of the department by intentionally referring to someone, including but not limited to, a transgender, gender nonconforming, nonbinary or intersex person, using a word, pronoun, or form of address that does not correctly reflect the gender with which they identify,” the budget directive states.
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Transgender activists have praised Hochul, including the Jim Owles LGBT Liberal Democratic Club leader, Allen Roskoff, who expressed that the policy is “long overdue. Transgender persons are often the victims of violence and hate."
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“I commend Governor Hochul for doing a wonderful, wonderful thing. It’s logical and forward looking. Transgender people need support.”
Hochul said the transgender rights policy requires a change in state law and therefore approval from state lawmakers.
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New York City jails adopted the transgender housing policy in 2018.
In 2014, the city created a special housing unit on Rikers Island for transgender inmates who identify as female.
“Because inmates are not all alike, the department is creating specialized housing for many specific inmate groups,” DOC Commissioner Joe Ponte said at the time.
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“Just as adolescents, young adults, and mentally ill inmates have specialized needs, so do men who identify as women.”
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There are 31,000 incarcerated people housed in 50 prisons and other state facilities.
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There were 186 incarcerated individuals in DOCCS custody who self-identified as transgender or who had a diagnosis of gender dysphoria, accordng to DOCCS.
DOCCS, in a statement, said it already has a set of transgender policies and procedures, incuding issuing “gender-affirming” clothing and undergarments, requests to be searched by an officer of the inmate’s preferred gender, and a review process for housing accommodations.
“DOCCS has granted multiple requests for housing consistent with an incarcerated individual’s gender identity,” DOCCS said.
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