Why Jails are not a Safe Space for Trans People

CW/TW:  Death(s), Journalistic Transphobia, Familia Transphobia, Mental Health Crisis, Criminal Law, Racism 

On March 20th, 2022, Damien Ortaga, a 25 year old trans person was found unresponsive at King County Jail located in downtown Seattle. Damien Ortaga’s death is the third death of four at the King County Jail in the last 2 months, and will be added to the ever-growing list of transgender people of color who have been lost to violence or otherwise preventable deaths in 2022. This is following the record-reaching number of transgender people murdered in 2021, marking last year as the ‘deadliest’ year for our transgender community. Before Damien was tragically incarcerated, Damien made numerous attempts to access resources for survival and mental health. After Damien was found unresponsive in a cell at King County jail, Damien was transported to Harborview Medical Center. While at Harborview, the Court ordered Damien’s release and a day later, Damien passed. 

Dr. Jennifer, from the Orion Clinic, remembered Damien as a sweet kid. “[Damien was t]he kind of kid that would show up at the clinic and say, can I just have a hug? It broke my heart,” Dr. Jennifer recalled. Like many other trans youth, Damien struggled with finding acceptance and guidance from parental figures. “[There was an] adoptive mom, but she threw [Damien] out when [Damien] began questioning gender,” continued Dr. Jennifer.  “[Damien] had just never been loved enough – [Damien] was alone in the world.” 

Damien was a valued member of our community and, like many gender diverse peoples, experienced the intense trauma of being shunned by caregivers and navigating through the hurdles of mental health crises. Damien showed a deep affection for other trans-youth, and is remembered fondly for “always thinking about others,” being an “incredibly loyal friend to the other youth,” and “trying to look out for people in [Damien’s] complicated way, despite [Damien’s] own challenges.” Together, we should all grieve the loss of Damien Ortaga, and in our grief hold those who failed Damien accountable to ensure that preventable deaths like this are stopped. 

The Seattle Times was the first media outlet to publicly share Damien’s passing—but did not accurately report Damien’s name, pronouns, or gender identity—failing to honor Damien’s trans life and humanity with dignity. 

When the Times first published what happened to Damien, they disrespected Damien’s identity within the headline, main text, and link to the article itself. After our staff alerted the Times of the discrepancy, it took nearly three days to make a full correction––with no apology to the community or to Damien’s loved ones. While we are grateful that the changes were eventually made, there should have been a bigger conversation about what led to the misreporting and how they plan to do better in the future. Yes, mistakes happen, but acknowledging the harm and making amends, no matter how small the harm, is a crucial part of becoming better accomplices in protecting trans and non-binary people. We, as trans people, need large news and media networks like the Seattle Times to be reliable when reporting stories about our community, especially given the recent violent assaults on gender diverse communities across the county. Please do better, for both Damien and gender diverse people everywhere. 

Seattle Municipal Court has jurisdiction over misdemeanor adjudications that are charged in Seattle. In Damien’s case, it was Seattle Police, Seattle City Attorneys, and Seattle judges that booked and held Damien, despite clear and serious mental health and medical needs. What happened to Damien is not an aberration, but part of a pattern of hostile, demeaning, and heartless treatment of gender diverse community members, Black, Native, and people of color, and poor and houseless community members. Ninety percent of individuals adjudicated in Seattle Municipal Court, also known as Seattle’s Poor People's Court, are living in poverty. The majority are houseless. This is a court system that is built on prosecuting and adjudicating individuals for crimes of poverty--for actions individuals would likely not participate in if they had their needs met. We can no longer allow our most vulnerable community members who are living in crisis to be put in cages without challenging those making these decisions. 

The loss of Damien is not the first time that a gender diverse person has taken their life because of our cissexist carceral systems and it won’t be the last—not until abolition and Black liberation are fully realized. Incarceration of any kind is never safe for trans people–let alone any person of color. Jails and prisons are not designed to “correct” someone’s behavior nor to generate safety for our communities. Carceral systems are inherently anti-Black, as they are built to harm, abuse, and enslave anyone who enters the system—and trans people of color, especially those impacted by ableism, experience the worst of it. We, as a State, need to disrupt the prison industrial complex pipeline and build a world that is centered on community care. LRP envisions a future where mental health and housing resources are abundant for communities experiencing an onslaught of oppression such as cissexism, racism, and poverty. Let us be clear: it is not the sole responsibility of Black & Indigenous community activists to heal a system that was created to harm us. An injury to one is an injury to us all. It is imperative that we take collective action to transform the so-called justice system into a space of healing and recovery.

The use of antidepressants have risen by nearly 65% in the past 15 years, and that definitely does not include the increase in distress initiated by COVID-19. In the past two years alone, there have been a significant uptick in moderate to severe depression, anxiety, and suicidal ideation. We know from personal experience, either within our lives or those we love, that people who transgender or gender diverse are predisposed to higher rates of mental health complications than those who are cisgender. This stigma adds to the barriers that transgender people already face when searching for resources and support via healthcare, such as “refusal to care, violence and lack of provider knowledge” on transgender topics. Neoliberal Capitalism, Racism, Transmisogynoir, and Patriarchy are all systemic structures that should call our attention and turn our gazes to when unrooting the dramatic decreases in mental health stability in the United States, and especially for transgender and gender diverse Black & Indigenous people of color.

Lavender Rights Project and the below signers demands the following in response to the harm committed against our loved one, Damien Ortaga:

  • A public apology from the Seattle Times for their misrepresentation of Damien Ortaga

  • An inquest regarding, what is arguably, the in-custody death of Damien Ortaga

  • Accountability from King County and the King County jail for the death of Damien Ortaga and the three (3) other community members lost in the last 2 months to the carceral death machine

  • Investment in two designated facilities, which includes the facility currently being planned for prioritizing Black trans people, through King County’s Health Through Housing Initiative that will provide a safe trans-inclusive space and a matching commitment from the City of Seattle. 

  • King County Jail to provide grief counseling to folks who are currently held in the jails  

  • A call to King County Regional Housing Authority to identify additional of/by/for/ transgender exclusive housing providers and provide robust capacity building to prepare potential of/by/for providers for an additional transgender exclusive housing facility. 

  • The Seattle Times to follow standards for reporting about trans and gender diverse communities, as set by the HRC and Ethics in Journalism for Transgender Rights

  • A call to King County to invest in alternative public safety programs that are in community, healing engaged, trauma informed and intersectional

  • A public push for abolition, including carceral abolition, in King County that is led by communities most impacted and supported by major stakeholders 

  • A call to local behavioral health institutions to introduce and practice more trans-inclusive policies 

  • Seattle Municipal Court judges receive immediate education about the risk of death and violence for transgender and gender non conforming individuals inside jail and that they are instructed to confront and weigh this risk when deciding whether jail is warranted. 

  • Seattle Municipal Court judges and Seattle City Attorneys to reject the use of jail for any individual who is in a mental health crisis, who has previously been found not competent to stand trial, or who requires mental health or medical treatment. The risk to these individuals inside jail far outweighs any perceived public safety benefit incarceration provides for misdemeanor offenses. 

We acknowledge that this list is not exhaustive, and that so much more work needs to be done in order for us all to experience true liberation and safety. That being said, this is the bare minimum of a beginning for transformative change. Below are a list of credible sources to expand your education on abolition, gender justice, and trans supportive journalism:

*Critical Race Theory is not explicitly named in the style guide but is another critical lens to have when publicly sharing information about transgender and gender diverse community members

Signers,

Organizational Signers:
Lavender Rights Project
Who Streets, Our Streets
Kids are Kids
Creative Justice
Diversity Alliance of Puget Sound
Liberation Medicine School 
Freedom Project 
Q-law

Individual Signers:
Sadé Smith
Damon Agnos
nikkita oliver
Jaelynn Scott
LéTania Severe
JM Wong
Caedmon Cahill
Leo Segovia
Dyneeca Adams 
Mahkyra A. Gaines
Denise Diskin
Kai Aprill-Tomlin

Community Statement, GBVP, LegalLavender Rights Project