The Abolitionist Fight for Trans Prisoners’ Rights

• In Event: New Perspectives on the Perils and Possibilities of Reform

Abstract

Activists routinely petition the state to adopt their classification systems. But in a repressive state institution, even seemingly progressive classification systems can be put towards coercive ends. This paper examines how activists navigate this tension through the case study of the first state law specifically addressing transgender prisoners in California (SB310, passed in 2017). The law streamlined the process for prisoners to change their name and gender marker. In heartfelt testimony in legislative hearings and in meetings with Congressional staff, activists declared that this bill was about trans dignity. Yet, they intentionally avoided bill language that restricted beneficiaries to “transgender people.” Activists were wary of prison staff members adjudicating trans authenticity, but also hoped that the bill could have a broader impact, assisting incarcerated survivors of intimate partner violence or any other incarcerated people who might want to change their legal name or gender. Using trans identity discourse, the SB310 activists therefore passed a prison reform bill with an abolitionist vision of weakening the prison’s coercive power: lessening the prison’s capacity to legally define prisoners’ identity.

Author

• Joss Greene, Syracuse University