Quote from: Julia1996 on April 13, 2018, 09:05:05 PM
I'm really sorry this is happening to you. My dad is a cop and I asked him exactly about your situation. I don't know exactly what it's like in your state but my dad told me treatment of trans inmates is pretty standard all over the USA as far as county jail time goes. This is what happens here in Denver. They will ask you if you have had surgery. No matter what answer you give you are going to be strip searched. If you haven't had surgery you will be strip searched by male officers. If you say you have had surgery you will be searched by female officers. But if you lie and say you had surgery when you haven't the female officers will leave as soon as they see male genitals and male officers will finish the search. It makes no difference what your gender marker says, if you are pre op then you are legally male in the eyes of the state and will be housed with males. You have the option to request protective segregation which is really just solitary confinement for the duration of your stay. How they gender you is up to each person. A preop trans woman is considered legally male so the jail personel aren't obligated to use female pronouns and probably won't.

If you are taking hrt that has been prescribed legally by a Dr they are obligated to give you the same doses of hrt during your stay. They will verify that you are being prescribed hrt and the dosages by calling your pharmacy and requesting your RX records. If you're doing DIY hrt from the internet they aren't obligated to give you hrt while you're there and they won't. Even if you have breasts they are not obligated to give you a bra. Of course you won't have access to makeup. If you still have facial hair they will give you a razor if you ask for one. They won't buzz your hair. They only do that if you go to state prison.

I hope this helps you. I really hope you don't have to spend any time in jail.

I don't mean to counter what your father said, but a couple things are inaccurate for my state. In Virginia, strip searches are actually illegal for all lower class misdemeanors. Even for class 1, though not illegal, the jail is allowed to use discetion.

Also, the standard practice at this jail is to have transgender inmates searched by a person of the gender they identify as. But I honestly don't care about that. It would be similarly awkward either way.

As for pronouns, that's anyone's guess, but this jail DOES have protocols in place for transgender inmates and their standards say I should be put in either medical or with women (though I'm sure the latter is highly unlikely).

Um I think they'll seperate you. There's no way you'll be in with "men"... maybe gay people.. that would be negligence on a jail's part. No matter where that jail is. Though I'm sure it sadly happens... when I was in jail for a few hours they put me in a cell by myself while I was waiting for arraignment. They brought in a trans girl an hour later and she had her purse on her. Thankfully I left soon after. I had 2 guys come to my cell, glare at me and bring me a cheese sandwich.. I later found out I could've gotten a peanut butter sandwich but I didn't know. Anyway I left a bit after that and got some chicken strips [emoji4]

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Quote from: Allison S on April 13, 2018, 09:49:28 PM
Um I think they'll seperate you. There's no way you'll be in with "men"... maybe gay people.. that would be negligence on a jail's part. No matter where that jail is. Though I'm sure it sadly happens... when I was in jail for a few hours they put me in a cell by myself while I was waiting for arraignment. They brought in a trans girl an hour later and she had her purse on her. Thankfully I left soon after. I had 2 guys come to my cell, glare at me and bring me a cheese sandwich.. I later found out I could've gotten a peanut butter sandwich but I didn't know. Anyway I left a bit after that and got some chicken strips [emoji4]

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If I were put with men it's basically the same as being sentenced to rape.

Local jails don't have gangs and dangerous prisoners are isolated from the rest of the population. If you were going away for an extended stay, you would be sent to a high security jail where the bad people are sent. Often local jails have programs where you go to work during the day and you report to jail for the evening and night. The idea is to give you a taste of confinement but not the full experience. I agree that jail is best avoided but it's not likely you will be harmed.

Quote from: Dena on April 13, 2018, 10:48:49 PM
Local jails don't have gangs and dangerous prisoners are isolated from the rest of the population. If you were going away for an extended stay, you would be sent to a high security jail where the bad people are sent. Often local jails have programs where you go to work during the day and you report to jail for the evening and night. The idea is to give you a taste of confinement but not the full experience. I agree that jail is best avoided but it's not likely you will be harmed.

In 2013, I was in county jail like this for a month for felony marijuana possession before I started down the road of transition. There was a trans woman locked up in the men's facility with us. People would talk a lot of smack to her and she was dishing it right back. I only saw a few minor fights take place while I was there.

County jail isn't like state prison. I was scared going in, but as Dena said, they separate the people most likely to cause problems. For the first three days they kept us in our cells in the new intake area to determine how much trouble we were going to cause. I highly recommend being super polite to the COs and any other staff. Those of us that were least likely to cause trouble were then sent to A Block, which meant that you were allowed to leave for work if you have a job. If not, you were given a job on site which pays peanuts, but at least you get to spend 8 hours outside of your cell. I ended up in grounds keeping, which meant I was one of the few people allowed to go outside while working. Those who were considered more trouble were sent to B Block. Aside from meals and one hour of recreation, they had to stay in their cells the whole day. It was often noisy in A Block, but someone that was moved over from B Block said that it was way worse over there. Personally, I would still prefer to be locked up with men rather than put into isolation. I've heard there's a lot of screaming in solitary. Then again, maybe I only feel that way because I'm not a small person.

If this is your first offense that requires a court appearance, I think your lawyer will be able to get you probation.

Have your lawyer (and have a lawyer!) ask for alternative sentencing of some kind.  I.E. home arrest or something.  Make sure your lawyer knows your goal is to not be in jail.

Someone with a penis will probably be put in with men in most places in the US. I can't imagine any transwoman wanting that.