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Abstract
Queer geographers have recently begun to examine the lives of transgender persons, a heretofore gap in the literature. This article examines the experiences of incarcerated trans persons in the USA, thus extending this nascent trans geography work by considering a new population in a new space. As some scholarly and activist research has shown over the last decade or so, US trans persons are incarcerated at a disproportionately high rate and face harsh conditions while imprisoned. First-hand accounts of trans prisoners' experiences are, however, limited due to the difficulty of accessing this population for research purposes. Working in cooperation with a Montreal-based organization that facilitates pen-pal communications between queer persons inside and outside penitentiaries in the USA, we conducted qualitative research with 23 trans feminine individuals confined in facilities in several states. Our findings unfortunately corroborate the findings laid out in the small existing literature on trans prisoner issues, demonstrating that they endure harsh conditions of confinement. We detail these conditions here, while also pointing to informant responses that offer insight into the ways in which trans incarcerated persons cope with the hypermasculine and heteronormative environment of the US prison. These results are offered in the spirit of advancing a queer abolitionist politics that centers the knowledge and experiences of trans incarcerated persons.
La encarnación trans en el espacio carcelario: la hipermasculinidad y el complejo industrial carcelario de los EE.UU.
Lxs geógrafxs queer recién comenzamos a estudiar las vidas de las personas transgénero, un vacío en la literatura hasta aquí. Este artículo analiza las experiencias de las personas trans encarceladas en los Estados Unidos, extendiendo así este incipiente trabajo de la geografía trans al considerar una nueva población en un nuevo espacio. Como ha mostrado cierta investigación académica y activista a lo largo de los últimos diez años aproximadamente, en los EE.UU. las personas transgénero son encarceladas en tasas desproporcionadamente altas y enfrentan duras condiciones durante su encarcelamiento. Los relatos de primera mano de las experiencias de lxs prisionerxs trans son sin embargo limitados debido a la dificultad de acceder a esta población con el propósito de realizar una investigación. Trabajando en cooperación con una organización con base en Montreal que facilita las comunicaciones por correspondencia entre personas queer dentro y fuera de las penitenciarías en los EE.UU., llevamos a cabo una investigación cualitativa con veintitrés mujeres trans confinadas en instalaciones en varios estados. Nuestros resultados lamentablemente corroboran los de la escasa literatura existente sobre temas de prisionerxs trans, demostrando que enfrentan duras condiciones de encierro. Detallamos estas condiciones aquí, al tiempo que señalamos las respuestas de informantes que ofrecen una mirada de las formas en que las personas trans encarceladas sobrellevan el ambiente hipermasculino y heteronormativo de la cárcel estadounidense. Estos resultados se ofrecen con la intención de avanzar una política abolicionista queer que centre el conocimiento y las experiencias de las personas encarceladas trans.
监狱空间中的跨性别体现：超男性气概以及美国的监狱—工业復合体
酷儿地理学者已于晚近开始着手检视跨性别者的生活——此一至今的理论文献中仍然欠缺的议题。本文检视美国受到监禁的跨性别者的经验，从而透过考量这个新空间中的新群体，扩展此一新兴的跨性别地理研究。如同部分学者和社会运动者于过去近十年来的研究显示，美国的跨性别者之中，有相当不成比例的人数受到监禁，并且在监狱中面临严酷的处境。但接触这个群体以进行研究，却具有困难性，因此对于跨性别受刑人经验的一手研究相当有限。我们与一个总部设于蒙特娄、协助美国监狱内外的酷儿进行笔友交流的组织进行合作，与二十三位被监禁在数州监狱中的跨性别女性化受刑人进行质性研究。不幸的是，我们的研究发现，巩固了目前有关跨性别受刑人议题的少数既有文献所展示的发现，证实他们的确承受着严酷的监禁状态。我们在此仔细记载这些状态，并同时表明受访者们的回应，这些回应提供了受监禁的跨性别者应付美国监狱中超男性气概和异性恋常规环境的方式之洞见。我们期待透过提供这些研究结果，促进聚焦受监禁的跨性别者的知识及经验的酷儿废除政治。
Acknowledgments
We are deeply grateful to the individuals who were involved in our research, for their openness and courage. This project would also not have been possible without the support of the Prisoner Correspondence Project and its collective members, and their trust in facilitating access to their membership base. Finally, Benjamin Forest, Sarah Turner, Carrie Rentschler, and the anonymous reviewers offered many useful insights along the way.
Notes
1. It should be noted that there is a higher representation of male-to-female individuals in US prisons as opposed to those who are female-to-male (FTM). This overrepresentation reflects the reality that there are higher levels of incarcerated cis men than cis women in the USA, and many argue that it is also due to the increased visibility of, and consequently discrimination against, trans feminine people (Hearts on a Wire Citation2011; Jenness Citation2010; Sexton, Jenness, and Sumner Citation2010; Sylvia Rivera Law Project, Citation2007). The experiences of FTM prisoners are sorely understudied, but see Girshick (Citation2011).
2. Transgender and transsexual were both used interchangeably to refer to being a male-to-female trans person, while genderqueer alluded to gender fluidity as well as those who were not male-to-female trans persons.
3. The Sylvia Rivera Law Project notes that while not all trans and intersex people undergo medical treatment, including hormone therapy, ‘those who do not consider their treatment both medically necessary and a central aspect to their general well-being’ (Citation2007, 27). Despite this, even in those states that do allow hormone therapy during imprisonment, the inmate must show proof of diagnosis with Gender Identity Disorder by a recognized medical professional and must have been following a prescribed course of treatment prior to imprisonment.
4. The term ‘forced sexual situation’ was used instead of rape or sexual assault. This followed the activist organization Hearts on a Wire's use of ‘forced sexual situation’ to be more inclusive of all forms of sexual violence.