Advocate NL 10/22/26

The Trump administration has once again all but erased transgender people from reports about sexual violence in prisons and jails across the country — except to report data about trans people as perpetrators of violence. The same reports mention transgender victims behind labels such as “other.”

In an exclusive, in-depth piece for The Advocate, Adam Rhodes writes that the two Bureau of Justice Statistics reports, based on the results of the anonymous National Inmate Survey conducted in 2023 and 2024 that were released last week, glaringly obscure data about trans people as victims of violence behind bars.

Sara Kielly, a trans woman incarcerated in New York, told The Advocate that trans people “are overrepresented and maliciously underprotected” behind bars in the United States.

“I am not surprised that the current administration does not take seriously the barriers to safety and bodily integrity/autonomy faced by trans people incarcerated nationwide,” she said. “Sexual harassment and abuse of trans people in our nation’s prisons is rampant, and often committed with impunity.”

Don't miss Adam's full report here.

Until next time,
Edgar Ramirez, Audience Editor

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