Oct 19, 2007  | COMMENTS     

Police chief mandates respectful treatment of trans people

D.C. Metro Police this week adopted a general order from Chief Cathy Lanier requiring that officers treat trans people with respect. The new order stipulates that trans residents are addressed as they wish to be addressed by police. If they are held in police custody, they are given their own cell and trans identity is determined by the individual regardless of what his or her driver’s license indicates for gender or whether or not he or she has had gender reassignment surgery. In late June, the D.C. Trans Coalition gathered to address members’ concerns about the department and its handling of trans arrests. Members knew of what they call “horror stories” involving gay and trans Washingtonians and decided to approach the department with suggestions. “It’s really about respect,” said Ruby Corado, a spokesperson for the group. “This is really a big deal. Any gay or trans person who’s lived in D.C. any length of time knows there is homophobia and transphobia among the police. This order makes that kind of thing no longer acceptable.” Earlier in the year, Lanier met with gay and trans activists for input. At one of those meetings, a conversation Lanier had with Corado inspired Lanier’s changes within the department’s Gay & Lesbian Liaison Unit, which are now coming to fruition. Corado said with the help of Chris Dyer, director of the Mayor’s Office of LGBT Affairs, the concerns of Trans Coalition members and the department’s own interest in codifying its trans policy coalesced and have resulted in the general order, issued by Lanier Monday. Corado, a longtime trans activist, says it’s unprecedented and that only Los Angeles and San Francisco have policies even close to Washington’s and those aren’t as far-reaching. If a trans Washingtonian is sentenced by a judge to serve a jail term, surgery becomes an issue. “I’ll be quite frank,” Corado said, “If you have a vagina, you’re sent to the women’s unit. If you have a penis, you’re sent to the men’s unit. It makes no difference how you’ve been presenting, even if nobody else in your life knew you were transgender, it doesn’t matter.” But Corado says that’s a battle for another time and for now, she and members of the group are thrilled with Lanier’s plan. “She’s really one of the most supportive and understanding people I’ve ever met,” Corado said of Lanier. An August incident in which a woman, Virginia Grace Soto, was accidentally housed in the men’s unit of the D.C. jail, expedited the policy. “I have stressed to my officers that every person we come into contact with must be treated with respect at all times,” Lanier said in a prepared statement.

JOEY DiGUGLIELMO

Councilmember Brown changes position, backs marriage rights bill

Washington City Councilmember Kwame Brown (D-At-Large) told members of the Gertrude Stein Democratic Club Monday that he would “definitely” vote for a bill to legalize same-sex marriage in the District of Columbia if such a bill comes up for a vote. Brown’s comments supporting a same-sex marriage bill marked a change from the position he took during his 2004 election campaign. At that time, he stated in a Gay & Lesbian Activists Alliance candidate questionnaire, “My deeply [held] religious beliefs lead me to personally believe that marriage should be defined as between a man and a woman.” Brown elaborated in the questionnaire that, as a Councilmember, he would fight for the legal rights of all residents, “regardless of sexual orientation,” but stopped short of backing a gay marriage bill. Brown, who is running for re-election in 2008, said he remains “uncomfortable” with same-sex marriage on personal and religious grounds. But he said, “If it came up today, I would vote for it. That’s where I am today.” Brown becomes the 10th member of the 13-member D.C. Council to join Mayor Adrian Fenty (D) in pledging to vote for a same-sex marriage bill. Fenty and nearly all Councilmembers have said they agree with many gay activists that the city should not pass a gay marriage bill any time soon because it would likely be overturned by Congress and it could prompt Congress to pass a law permanently banning same-sex marriage in the city.

LOU CHIBBARO JR.