How A Black Trans Woman Ended Up In Jail Because Of An Iowa Transphobe

When 22 year old cosmetology student Meagan Taylor and a trans feminine girlfriend traveled to Des Moines, IA from Illinois for a visit, they were only planning to stay a few days in the city before returning home.when they checked into the Drury Inn in West De Moines.  

Unfortunately transphobic hotel staff and racist assumptions about them would combine to make this visit to Iowa a less than pleasant one.

Taylor and her friend noticed that the staff was in their words 'acting funny towards them' when they checked in.

That 'acting funny' was the transphobia the hotel staff was expressing, and several hours later it manifested itself into the police arriving at their hotel room door after being called by the staff about 'two males possibly engaged in prostitution activity.'

When the police officer arrived to begin the investigation, he found no prostitution activity occurring.   But a search of Taylor's purse led to the discovery of the spironolactone she was taking as part of her hormone regimen in an unmarked bottle, and she was arrested and charged with possession of prescription drugs without a prescription.  

She is also being head-scratchingly charged with  'malicious prosecution', which is an aggravated misdemeanor and Taylor’s bond was set at $2,000.

A subsequent check revealed that Taylor had an outstanding Illinois warrant for a probation violation stemming from a previous 2010 credit card fraud conviction that occurred when she was 17.  She had served time for it, but still owed $500 in fees.

She was taken to a Polk County jail that has no policy for housing trans prisoners, and since she was pre-op, they used a female officer to search the top half of the patdown search and a male office for the  bottom.

Because Polk County officials don't feel comfortable housing her with women, and the Prison Rape Elimination Act (PREA) still is unclear about where trans feminine prisoners should be housed (it definitely ain't with the cis men) she's being stuck in isolation in the medical unit.   She told the Des Moines Register in an interview that if she were from Polk County, she could have paid 10 percent of her $2000 bond and been released.

But because Taylor is from out of state, she would need someone in Polk County to co-sign.  She doesn’t have a lawyer and doesn't have a court date set until August 25..

So because a transphobic Drury Inn hotel employee racially profiled two Black trans women who were minding their own damned business, Meagan Taylor is stuck in an Iowa jail at least until August 25,  or until she gets some help from the local LGBT community

TransGriot Update,  Since I wrote this post, crowdfunding has started to raise the money to not only pay for bail in Iowa, but the $500 she still owes in Illinois.  Also been advised that an attorney has stepped up to represent Meagan.

There is also a protest being organized that will take place in front of the West Des Moines, IA Drury Inn where this mess started.

Monica Jones Guilty Of Walking While Black Trans In Arizona

Have another reason to not like Arizona despite some of the cool people who call it home.

Been keeping an eye on the ongoing case of ASU student Monica Jones, who was accosted on the street while walking in her Phoenix neighborhood during a sting operation and charged with 'manifestation of intent to prostitute' the very night after she spoke at a May 2013 rally denouncing Project ROSE.  .

Project ROSE is a program created with 15 partner organizations including the Phoenix Police Department with the goal of avoiding filing charges against adults engaged in prostitution, providing an opportunity for medical and social services and assistance in helping them exit the life of prostitution if they choose.  

In practice, the program and its profiled prostitution sweeps target trans, SGL and low income women far too often and has a 30% success rate, the same rate as a woman who goes before a judge and hasn't gone through the unjust Catholic Charities supported program.  

Jones believes she was unfairly targeted for arrest because of her outspoken criticism of Project ROSE.   A Change.org petition was created urging the Phoenix city prosecutor to drop the charges against her..    

The ACLU of Arizona joined Jones’ lawyer in contesting the constitutionality of the manifestation statute. Dan Pochoda of the ACLU explained in his arguments, “The statute eviscerates first amendment rights.”

In a packed Phoenix municipal courtroom this morning filled with supporters wearing “I Stand With Monica Jones: Stop Profiling Trans Women of Color”shirts, Judge Hercules Dellas found the 29 year old Ms. Jones guilty based solely on the statements of the police officer who targeted her. 

Gee why am I not surprised?   Jones' trial is also being monitored by the UN Special Rapporteur on Human Rights Defenders as an example of discriminatory policing and retaliation on activists organizing for human rights.

She is appealing the ruling because she faces time in the men's jails, and Maricopa County has a less than stellar human rights record in their penal system.  

Ms. Jones stated, “I am saddened by the injustice that took place at my trial this morning, but we are not giving up the fight. It’s time that we end the stigma and the criminalization of sex work, the profiling of trans women of color, and the racist policing system that harms so many of us.”

Hope she has better luck with her appeal.