Arrested while trans

June 26, 2018 7:46 AM

Are you trans, and have you been arrested at a protest in the United States? What was it like? What special considerations should I have, or am I insane for considering this? I am especially interested in trans men who pass as male and whose legal name and ID has been changed to male. Recent-ish arrests (i.e. post Jan 20, 2017) preferred.
posted by AFABulous to Law & Government (3 answers total)

For what it's worth, my wife worked in corrections in both NC and Texas, and people who had been arrested were housed with the gender that matched their ID.
posted by joycehealy at 1:38 PM on June 26, 2018 [1 favorite]

This has come up on r/ftm a few times, but my understanding is that is fairly location-specific how things play out. Mass arrests at protests are also sometimes handled differently than "everyday" arrests.

The advice of writing phone numbers on your arm in sharpie goes double if you're trans.
posted by hoyland at 3:04 PM on June 26, 2018 [1 favorite]

I know someone who is trans and was arrested at a protest. She is noticably trans and her ID did not match her gender. The police in her city are known for being racist and otherwise shitty and the area has been having regular protests for a long time. She was put in isolation from the other arrested protesters (which was more upsetting experience for her than what the protesters who were kept in groups had). The trans man who was later put in with her was not provided with needed medical care. The medical care thing might be a shitty police thing rather than a trans-phobic thing. She said that some of the arresting officers were creepy and rude to her because she was trans. None of the arrested protesters were provided with food (I'm not sure about water) and they were imprisoned long enough that legally they should have gotten food.
posted by Blue Genie at 4:06 PM on June 28, 2018