NEWS 21: Tough Love For State's Transgender Inmates
By Isabella Cota and Karen McIntyre
Posted: 11:24 pm PDT July 9, 2010
http://www.ktvu.com/news/24206972/detail.htmlSAN RAFAEL, Calif. -- Unique Roberts sprays Paris Hilton perfume on her neck. With perfectly lined eyes and cornrow hair, she's on her way to meet her boyfriend in the yard of San Quentin State Prison, an all-male facility.
Roberts is not a visitor there. The 32-year-old is one of more than 300 California prison inmates who identify as trans gender women and are being housed in male facilities because they are biologically male.
"I identify myself as a woman in the streets," she said. "In here, they consider me just a male because I haven't had any sex change operation or anything, but I consider myself a woman... And I was blessed to actually look the part," she added.