By C1 Staff
SAN FRANCISCO, Calif. — The San Francisco County Jail will begin housing transgender inmates with their preferred gender by year’s end, according to the San Francisco Examiner.
State policy requires that transgender inmates only be moved after their transition is complete, but the new policy under Sheriff Ross Mirkarimi will allow pre-operation transgender inmates to move permanently into new populations.
Currently, transgender inmates are segregated from the general jail population. There are six transgender women currently at the jail; the final step to change housing clarification will also include transgender men.
Advocates for transgender inmates are wary of the plan because it will have the inmates shuttled back and forth between facilities for classes, which could expose them to more abuse.
And sheriff’s deputy union head is concerned about having pre-operation transgender inmates living with females when they haven’t fully transitioned.
The state prison system has 33 male-to-female inmates receiving hormone treatment and 22 female-to-male getting hormone treatment.