City Council hearing held on rights of transgender detainees on Rikers Island
NEW YORK -- The City Council is considering changes to policy to protect the rights of transgender New Yorkers held on Rikers Island, following the high-profile death of a transgender woman who died in solitary confinement.
The tragic death of 27-year-old Layleen Polanco in 2019 hung over Wednesday's hearing on the protections and services for incarcerated transgender individuals, a hearing where Public Advocate Jumaane Williams pushed for legislative changes to protect the rights of those whose gender identity is different from the sex assigned to them at birth.
"It is possible that Layleen would have been alive today had DOC placed her in housing consistent with her gender identity," Williams said.
The public advocate noted that nearly 1 in 6 trans, gender-nonconforming, nonbinary and intersex people has been to prison.
He introduced legislation that would require the Department of Correction to make monthly reports of the number of people in custody whose gender identity is different from the sex assigned at birth.
"The indignities that they experience while incarcerated often start at arrest when the arresting officer incorrectly lists the sex they were assigned at birth," Williams said.
READ MORE: Parents incarcerated at Rikers Island visit kids at Children's Museum of Manhattan
The public advocate that while the de Blasio administration made improvements in dealing with LGBTQ+ detainees, the unit in charge of creating housing for them has weakened.
He cited An august report by a Board of Correction task force that found that of the 41 people whose gender identities the task force knew, 63% were in housing misaligned with their gender identities, including 58% of trans women and 100% of trans men.
In his testimony, DOC Commissioner Louis Molina insisted that the department is a national leader in developing safe and progressive policies for the protection and care of TGNBI individuals, saying the city is often a model for other jurisdictions.
The state Legislature is considering a proposal that would require jail officials across the state to house incarcerated people in facilities that align with their gender identities.