# How are transgendered inmates housed?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-are-transgendered-inmates-housed/271872>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [October 29, 2004, 4:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-are-transgendered-inmates-housed/271872 "2004-10-29T16:46:24Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 5\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Hadrian0117](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Hadrian0117](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hadrian0117)\
**Post date:** [October 29, 2004, 4:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-are-transgendered-inmates-housed/271872/1 "2004-10-29T16:46:24Z")

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How is housing determined for transgendered prisoners? Specfically MtF prisoners who haven’t yet had genital surgery but have had the hormone treatments, breast implants, other cosmetic surgery, etc. And FtM prisoners who haven’t had genital surgey but have had the hormone treatments, mastectomy, other cosmetic surgery etc. Which jail would they be sent to? Do they still get to take their hormones? How does it work in states that don’t recognize legal change of sex?

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**Author:** ![The\_Devil\_s\_Grandmother](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/74df32/32.png) [@The\_Devil\_s\_Grandmother](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Devil_s_Grandmother)\
**Post date:** [October 29, 2004, 6:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-are-transgendered-inmates-housed/271872/2 "2004-10-29T18:20:18Z")

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I’ve been wondering about this ever since I saw half of an Law&Order Episode with a transgendered-in-progress defendant.

Anybody know?

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**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\
**Post date:** [October 30, 2004, 12:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-are-transgendered-inmates-housed/271872/3 "2004-10-30T12:43:25Z")

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Paging \*\*Qadgop the Mercotan{/b], Dr. **Mercotan** please report to the message board.

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**Author:** ![GorillaMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/50afbb/32.png) [@GorillaMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GorillaMan)\
**Post date:** [October 30, 2004, 1:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-are-transgendered-inmates-housed/271872/4 "2004-10-30T13:24:14Z")

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In the US:

> [@](#):
>
> Transsexual people who have not had genital surgery are generally classified according to their birth sex for purposes of prison housing, regardless of how long they may have lived as a member of the other gender, and regardless of how much other medical treatment they may have undergone… Transsexual people who have had genital surgery are generally classified and housed according to their reassigned sex.

[http://www.transgenderlaw.org/resources/prisoners.htm](http://www.transgenderlaw.org/resources/prisoners.htm)

As for other countries, I’m struggling to find any cites, but I vagulely remember a news story to do with this not long ago, involving the European Court of Human Rights. I’ll keep Googling…

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**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\
**Post date:** [October 30, 2004, 4:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-are-transgendered-inmates-housed/271872/5 "2004-10-30T16:02:10Z")

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What **Gman** posted.

As a rule, that is. Lots of exceptions can occur. It’s an issue the prison systems are struggling with.

In my institution, the pre-op transgendered are generally kept on a special management unit, to minimize the chance of being preyed on.