Welcome a New Voice

I'd like to welcome A Wild Elegance to the blog roll. Donna Dawn Konitzer is an MTF prisoner who is also an activist for prisoners with GID to be treated better within prisons in the US. Please read her blog, it is eye-opening. Also consider a pen-pal relationship with one of the prisoners she lists toward the end of her entry (in part III of IV).

Prisoners with GID are a minority within a minority within a minority. Yet, some figures put the rate of incarceration of people with GID (Gender Identity Disorder - the defining mental disorder of transsexuals) at 30%, some as high as 65%, although that seems exceedingly high. But imagine the horrors, if you will, of someone with GID who is mid-transition facing incarceration based upon the shape of their genitals, not their identity or their appearance otherwise. Someone, who to you or I would appear as a female walking down the street may not have had SRS yet, and if they should be so unfortunate as to commit a felony, would be assigned to a male prison population. Harsh, much harsher than they deserve, I think. They are there to put in time, not to be the punching bag and fuck-hole for the other prisoners. They are routinely harassed, called by their male name, male pronouns used, which is psychologically damaging. Just punishment? I think not. Say "they broke the law, they should have known better"? Most of the time, these crimes are of desperation, because people will not hire transsexuals, even in spite of there being laws to prevent discrimination.

I'm not asking anyone to forgive their crimes and mitigate their sentences. But perhaps we can make their prison experiences a little less hellish and maybe more rehabilitative.