Wednesday, January 31, 2018

It Is Another Country

Here in Connecticut we have two casinos that are owned by Native Americans. Connecticut has some of the strongest gender inclusive laws in the nation but once you cross over to tribal lands the laws of the state do not apply and you are under tribal law.
"It made me feel subhuman" Transgender woman detained for using the wrong bathroom at valley casino
KESQ
By:  Alexandra Pierce
Posted: Jan 30, 2018

A transgender woman claims she was harassed, handcuffed, and detained after being accused of using the wrong bathroom at the Fantasy Springs Resort and Casino in Indio.

"It made me feel subhuman it was just totally wrong," said Ella. That's how Ella says she felt after the incident at Fantasy Springs.

Ella says she was playing blackjack at the casino when she got up to go to the restroom. She says that as she was washing her hands, four men came into the women's restroom and demanded to see her ID.

"I said I don't have to show you an ID I'm not breaking any laws. So, next thing I know, these four guys grabbed me, handcuffed me and walked me across the casino like I was some kind of animal.  And then they put me in a cell. I was there for a couple of hours," Ella said.
California is ahead of Connecticut with laws that protect us, but my guess is that tribal law also applies when you go to the casino which is owned and operated by Cabazon Band of Mission Indians and it is also a federally recognized tribe.

So I don’t know what the tribal policy is for trans people, I do know that here in Connecticut the tribes have a non-discrimination policies, but I don’t know if the Cabazon Band of Mission Indians have any polices.
Thomi Clinton, the CEO of the Transgender Community Coalition, said she has reached out to casinos to work with them so things like this don't happen. She says it comes down to educating the employees.
And that is the problem everywhere.

Inadequate training can happen anywhere. It happened in Hartford a couple of years back at a conference center in the state; the security guards detained a trans women when she used the bathroom.

But nothing justifies the detention of us. Ignorance is no excuse. It is a terrifying to be detained and/or arrested especially if you haven’t done anything wrong. 

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