Florida to Trans Prisoners: We’re Coming for Your Bras
The Florida Department of Corrections (DOC) incarcerates more people—nearly 87,000—than all but two other states. Yet only 100 of them have been identified as transgender and provided hormone therapy. So it was unclear what motivated the announcement of a major policy change on September 30, 2024.
That’s when transgender state prisoners say they were “rounded up” and told they would no longer have access to gender-affirming clothing and grooming standards; rather, trans women in DOC custody would have their hair shorn and be required to surrender their feminine undergarments. If they bought more undergarments, they would be disciplined for having contraband. In exchange for their bras, most would get only psychotherapy.
Attorney Daniel Tilley with the state chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) suggested that the policy change “comes off like conversion therapy.”
The new policy reflects a 2023 change in state law barring use of state funds “for sex-reassignment prescriptions or procedures.” Though none of the state prisoners currently receiving hormone therapy has yet lost it, all fear they will. “If they took away my hormone therapy treatment, I would be ready to end my life,” promised prisoner Sasha Mendoza. “It may sound drastic. But [DOC] just let me start my transition and I was doing so well, and now they are making me stop. I’m halfway there and halfway not there.”
DOC promised to begin enforcing the new policy in 30 days. In response, affected prisoners—represented by ACLU attorneys—filed suit in federal court for the Northern District of Florida on October 25, 2024, seeking a preliminary injunction (PI) to block the “draconian policy.” Lead plaintiff Reiyn Keohane also filed the 2018 suit that resulted in the now-changed DOC policy that provided her hormone therapy and access to gender-affirming clothing. See: Keohane v. Fla. Dep’t of Corr. Sec’y, 952 F.3d 1257 (11th Cir. 2020).
Meanwhile, according to other case filings, trans prisoners had their breasts examined by DOC personnel, who measured them using a scale designed for adolescent girls—apparently to assess who deserved to keep her bra. Unsurprisingly, most were not allowed to do so. Also unsurprising: The district court denied Plaintiffs’ request for a PI on December 27, 2024. The case remains pending, and PLN will update developments as they are available. See: Keohane v. Dixon, USDC (N.D. Fla.), Case No. 4:24-cv-00434.
Additional source: The Marshall Project
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Related legal cases
Keohane v. Dixon
| Cite | USDC (N.D. Fla.), Case No. 4:24-cv-00434 |
|---|---|
| Level | District Court |
Keohane v. Fla. Dep’t of Corr. Sec’y
| Year | 2020 |
|---|---|
| Cite | 952 F.3d 1257 (11th Cir. 2020). |
| Level | Court of Appeals |
| Conclusion | Bench Verdict |
| Appeals Court Edition | F.3d |