Update On Virginia Transgendered Inmate

Last week I reported that a transgender inmate was kept in solitary confinement, not for anything that she did, but just because that she is transgender. There has been an update in her condition that was reported in the Washington Examiner,

Va. transgendered inmate removed from lockdown
By: Freeman Klopott
January 3, 2010

A transgendered woman who was locked down in solitary confinement for six months in a Virginia jail has been moved to a medical wing, her attorney told The Examiner.

Officials at Central Virginia Regional Jail said they had initially placed Maria Benita Santamaria in solitary confinement because they feared she would be raped by male inmates. Her attorney, Cathy Alterman, said they moved the 35-year-old to the medical wing late Wednesday night after U.S. District Court Judge T.S. Ellis ordered them to do so.
…
During her stay in solitary confinement, Santamaria was treated no different than inmates on punitive lockdown, Deputy Superintendent Susan Fletcher said. She was allowed out of her cell for one hour a day and allowed to shower every three days.

Alterman said jail guards referred to Santamaria as "it" and the conditions have pushed her to consider suicide. Despite the threat of being raped by male inmates, Santamaria has repeatedly asked to be placed in general population.
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The disrespect exhibited by jail and prison guards -- such as referring to transgendered inmates as "it" -- creates a cycle of disrespect that filters down to the other inmates, Williams said.