In 2020, Governor Gavin Newsom signed the Transgender Respect, Agency and Dignity Act (SB 132) into law, allowing inmates to decide where to be housed based not on their biological sex, but on their gender identity.
The California Family Council strongly opposed this bill as it made its way through the legislative approval process, and testified against the bill in committee while the Women’s Liberation Front (WoLF) filed a lawsuit. Unfortunately, the bill was still signed into law.
As a result, 47 male inmates are currently living in female facilities in California.
“Women inmates are being assaulted and sexually harassed. Women inmates are being traumatized over violations of their privacy. Fear and dread now occupy the minds of every California female inmate, because our legislators and governor care more about the desires of trans-identified males than they do the safety of vulnerable women,” said Greg Burt, California Family Council’s Director of Capitol Engagement.
The legislature is victimizing women by forcing them to live among gender-confused men with a history of violence and sexual assault. Even in prison, inmates have the right to privacy and deserve protection from criminals who could easily abuse a law like SB 132 and lie about their “gender identity” in order to be housed with females.
According to the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR) website, 349 inmates in male institutions have requested to be housed in a female institution. Forty-seven of those inmates have been approved for transfer, 21 were denied, and many are still under review.
As of 2022, more than 33% of the gender dysphoric men seeking to transfer to female prisons are registered sex offenders, and over a quarter of them are convicted sex offenders. “These are substantially higher percentages than the general prison population,” says Amanda Stulman, director of the U.S. chapter of the advocacy organization Keep Prisons Single Sex.
“There have been allegations of pregnancies and sexual assaults, of the introduction of condoms and other birth control and information about options in the event of pregnancy,” she continued.
Further, the vast majority of female prisoners – between 77 and 90% – have a history of trauma and abuse, which has likely contributed to their poor decision-making. To put them at greater risk of more abuse is not only counterproductive, but unjust and misogynistic.
“[Women prisoners] are more susceptible to committing crimes based on abuse histories,” says Bauwens. “When someone’s experienced childhood abuse, they’re more likely to act out in delinquent behaviors or abuse substances…There have been recommendations from different public health researchers that have suggested that for female prisoners, trauma therapy should be a part of their time in prison because of this knowledge.”
Criminal offenders do not have the right to “choose” their gender and be housed wherever they prefer. The more the left denies God’s design and makes policy based on the false and dangerous notion that gender is nothing but a social construct, the more chaos will ensue.
