Shortly after our historic win for marriage equality, LGBT leaders locally and nationally stated that the LGBT movement now needs to focus on the most vulnerable and marginalized part of our community �" transgender people.
The reality is that the transgender community, particularly trans women of color, continues to be left behind. From employment opportunities to housing rights and shelter access, transgender people continue to face tremendous barriers. But one of the most pressing issues is that our criminal justice system continues to arrest and jail trans women at disproportionate levels.
According to a 2015 report by the San Francisco LGBT Community Center, one in two black transgender women in San Francisco has been incarcerated in her lifetime. Another report found that transgender people in California prisons were 13 times more likely to be sexually assaulted. Largely imprisoned for "survival crimes" like sex work and drugs, trans people face severe discrimination, abuse, physical and sexual assault, rape, and even death when incarcerated. They are also too often denied access to reentry programs and rehabilitation programs, both in jail and once released. This has put trans women at a huge disadvantage with regard to staying out of jail.
Last month the San Francisco Board of Supervisors voted to reject a 384-bed jail facility that would have cost San Francisco taxpayers over $300 million. At a time when half of our jail beds are empty and 80 percent of jail inmates are pre-trial but cannot afford bail, clearly the city should not be investing precious resources in another jail. Rather, we need to focus on preventative measures and alternatives to incarceration that will help vulnerable communities, including the mentally ill and the transgender community.
In 2016, we, as the LGBT community, can best support our transgender community members by advocating for measures that will help them lead free and healthy lives. First, we must continue to fight against a proposal to build a new jail, and work on expanding alternatives to incarceration including mental health services and pre-trial diversion. Second, we need to invest in preventative measures �" including housing and employment for trans women. Third, we need to ensure that the housing policies within the current jail system are compliant with the Prison Rape Elimination Act, or PREA, which means that trans women are housed based on who they are and how they identify. Finally, trans women need equal access to reentry and rehabilitative programs �" both in jail and once they are out �" so that we can lower their risk of recidivism and help them integrate back into the community.
Let's work together in 2016 to make positive change happen by fighting for housing, resources, and alternatives to incarceration for our trans community members. As Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. once said, no one is free until we are all free.
David Campos, a gay man, represents District 9 on the San Francisco Board of Supervisors; Janetta Johnson, a trans woman, is the director of Transgender Gender Variant and Intersex Justice Project.