Differences Leading to Destruction
By: Jordan Rawls
The identification of being transgender is hard enough to live with already, before we go systemizing it in court and the criminal justice system. Through the pipeline of crime that America sets up there is already a strong sense of blaming, isolation and disadvantaging that is given to those who are unlucky enough to get in its way. As a transgender human it is easy to fall into the act of doing wrong when you feel you have been wronged so much. With this being said, Trans people in court and the criminal system need help from a number of different angles that will be explored right here.
First and foremost it is important to inform people that those who consider themselves transgender are a minority. Similar to other minorities in America they are put in situations where they are bound to fail and given less of an opportunity to do well. One example of this is shown simply through lack of correct identification of a trans person. Ross and Solinger would agree that misgendering is and can be an act of violence, as it serves as a reminder that they aren’t respected even in terms of their identity and would be rather angering towards a transgender person to be misgendered. More so, hate crimes and bullying in general towards transgender people takes a toll on their mental health and attitude. Statistics show that in the UK “41 per cent of trans people were victims of hate crime due to their gender identity in the last 12 months.” (Benjamin Butterworth, 2018). Lets not forget also that many of these crimes acted upon by transgender individuals go unreported and arent taken seriously. This is comparable to the way that African Americans are set up in environments where institutionalized racism are both prevalent and accepted and how crime becomes a coping mechanism or a way of survival within their lives. Transgender people also will turn to crime when being tyrannized and wronged for so long.
This leads them to prisons and jails where trans people will have there oppression even furthered. However they further it in ways that are unrealized and undiscussed. For instance, rape is discussed and known by outsiders and prison workers as an often occurrence in jail. Putting a trans person in an environment like that is asking for them to be victimized by rape and assault. One may think this is no different from others who go to jail, and think that everybody in prison has the same chance of being bullied or raped, but I challenge this idea. With a society that engages in sexual slurs and derogatory name calling to make fun of trans people already, putting them in prisons would only strengthen their chances to be picked on and battered. And what are the chances that they get out early, or even get out safely. Good behavior is a laughable expression when your fighting for your life and will have to defend yourself in ways that are probably not so indicative of “good behavior”.
It should now be understood that trans people have there own pipeline to prison, where society seems to only believe that African Americans and impoverished children are the only ones who travel this pipeline. Still, this can be avoided with a cleanup of behavior before the prison sentence. As a society we can do the favor of eliminating misgendering, and remember that as a minority group they face similar problems to other minorities with regards to isolation and survival behavior. The differences that a transgender person face should not lead them down a path of misbehavior, but for some reason in our society today it seems to.
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