A policy has been put in place for Texas inmates in Houston's Harris County that aims to protect the population of gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender inmates.
Harris County Sheriff Adrian Garcia told the Associated Press that under the new policy, transgender prisoners can choose where they prefer to be housed based on their identified gender rather than their biological sex. In a statement on the new rules obtained by AP, Garcia's office described the policy as one of the most complete and all-inclusive in the United States.
"Discrimination or harassment of any kind based on sexual orientation or gender identity is strictly prohibited," the policy read. Details on how inmates should be properly searched, booked and housed were also outlined in the rulebook. Intersex - people who were born with reproductive systems or sex chromosomes that are not seen as normal - inmates were also covered in the policy. A "safe zone project" will additionally be included in the new policy that works to foster a "positive relationship of solidarity" between the LGBT population and the sheriff's department.
Harris County is the only location in Texas that has taken on this kind of policy, executive director of the Texas Commission on Jail Standards Brandon Wood told AP. Houston is home to more than 125,000 inmates each year, and has the third-largest county jail in the nation. The policy, an 11-page document that was put in place on Wednesday, represented what director of policy for the National Center for Transgender Equality Harper Jean Tobin referred to as a "significant step forward" in a state that covets its conservative ways.
"This is not a red or blue issue," Tobin told AP. "It is an issue of preventing violence, of meeting the state's legal and moral responsibilities to keep people safe and safeguarding public funds that when sexual abuse happens in prison need to be spent on medical care and mental health care and recovery."
The jail currently has around 8,900 inmates, and more than 250 of them identify as LGBT. At least 225 of this community live in an area set aside specifically for gay inmates.
