California Gov. Newsom Signs New Law Requiring Trans Inmates to Be Housed Based on Gender Identity

California Gov. Gavin Newsom signed a new law on Saturday, which requires the state prison to house gender inmates based on their gender identity.

This could only be applicable if the state does not have "management or security concerns."

The California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitations houses men and women in separate facilities, according to a report.

Meanwhile, transgender inmates are usually housed based on their sex assigned at birth.

Advocates claimed this is dangerous, especially transgender women housed in facilities for men.

The new California law that Newsom signed on Saturday says that officers must ask inmates personally during the intake process if they identify as transgender, nonbinary, or intersex.

These inmates can request to be housed in a facility that has either men or women.

The new law also required the state's correctional department to not deny the requests of these inmate solely because of inmates' anatomy, sexual orientation, or "a factor present" among other inmates at the facility.

However, the state can deny those requests if it has "management of security concerns."

If a request is rejected, the state should give the inmate a written statement of explanation.

The statement should explain the decision and give the inmate an opportunity to object.

Author of the said bill, Sen. Scott Wiener, said that he does not expect that exception to be used very often.

"It's just a false narrative about transgender people and about transgender women in particular that they're somehow not really women and are just trying to scam their way into women's bathrooms or facilities in order to do bad things," Wiener was quoted.

Wiener also said that overwhelmingly the people who are being victimized are trans people.

The law also says that any time that an inmate raises concerns about their health or safety, the state must review where they are being placed.

Michelle Calvin, a transgender woman incarcerated at Mule Creek State Prison, said this means a lot to her and her sisters.

Calvin recently called in to a news conference about the bill.

Calvin added that she has been in for 15 years.

"I've been through the abuse, I've been through the disrespect of staff not addressing me for who I am because I am a woman," Calvin was quoted.

In addition, the law also mandates correctional officials to address transgender inmates based on their pronouns of choice.

The law also requires officers to search inmates based on the search policy of their gender identity.

This is not first of the LGBT-related laws that Newsom signed.

He also signed another law, authored by Wiener, requiring local public health officials to better track how diseases are affecting the LGBT community.

Aside from that, Newsom also signed the bill authored by state Sen. Lena Gonzales.

Gonzales' law aims to ban life and disability companies from denying coverage just because some is HIV positive.

Housing inmates based on their gender identity is also being implemented in some states.

Connecticut passed the same law in 2018.

Rhode Island, New York and Massachusetts also place inmates in facilities based on their gender identity.

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