Mar 13, 2009  |  By: Lou Chibbaro Jr.  | COMMENTS     

A new D.C. Department of Corrections policy that allows a department committee to decide whether to assign transgender inmates to prison housing facilities in accordance with their gender identity rather than based on their biological sex is an improvement over the department’s previous policy, trans activists said.

But members of the D.C. Trans Coalition said the impact of the new policy on trans inmates in the city’s prison system — especially for inmates transitioning from male to female — has yet to be determined.

The policy, which took effect Feb. 20, establishes a special Transgender Committee to make a housing recommendation for trans inmates based on a variety of factors, including the recommendation of at least one transgender person who will serve on the committee.

“The committee shall determine the transgender inmate’s housing assignment after review of all of the inmate records and assessments, and an interview with the inmate during which the inmate’s own opinion on his/her vulnerability in the jail population shall be considered,” the policy says.

Department director Devon Brown has the final say over whether to follow the committee’s recommendation, according to the policy. A trans inmate has the right to appeal a decision by Brown denying the inmate’s housing request. The policy authorizes Brown or future directors to take into consideration the safety of the trans inmate and other inmates in making a housing decision.

The policy also allows transgender inmates to continue or begin hormone treatment and therapy during their stay in the correctional system “when clinically indicated and determined by appropriate medical staff.”

Anthony Diallo, a correction department spokesperson, said the Transgender Committee had yet to meet as of this week.