Utah lawmakers continue to push legislation that impacts the state’s transgender community. The debate on the House floor on Feb. 3 included where minors can live while they are incarcerated and restrictions on transgender adult inmates from receiving gender-affirming care while in state custody.
HB252, sponsored by Republican Rep. Karianne Lisonbee, would require transgender youth to be in cells that align with their sex assigned at birth or in a solo cell.
“It's common sense legislation that permits safety, security and privacy for juvenile detainees,” Lisonbee said on the House floor.
The proposal is similar to a law passed last year, also sponsored by Lisonbee, that restricts where adult transgender inmates can be housed. While there is a pathway outlined for adult transgender inmates to live in secured quarters that match their gender identity, one isn’t provided for transgender minors.
Democratic Rep. Grant Amjad Miller, who is a public defender, raised concerns. While he’s never worked with transgender juveniles directly, he has represented transgender clients.
“My clients who are trans [and] who are housed in cells that are consistent with their biological birth assignment, are extremely uncomfortable,” he said. “They're subject to harassment, abuse, sometimes even physical violence.”
Miller added that correctional staff have done a good job intervening when a transgender inmate is under attack but he thinks the fear of safety is more dire with minors. The juveniles he’s worked with often come from harsh circumstances, he said. Miller suggested correctional facilities use their own discretion on housing arrangements.
“I could only imagine the difficulties of someone, say a trans female juvenile, being placed in secure care in a cell or closed rooms with other biological boys at such a tender age,” he said. “I think that it's a safety issue.”
Safety concerns were also raised at a Jan. 24 committee hearing by Republican Rep. Anthony Loubet. If transgender minors are forced to room “with other people that may act out, assault them or do other things,” he asked if there were any safety precautions in place to handle those situations.
Lisonbee said the Division of Juvenile Justice and Youth Services have internal policies in place to deal with such incidents.
“[They] are assuring me that those instances will be taken care of,” she said at the hearing.
Republican Rep. Nicholeen Peck rose in support of the bill on the House floor. She said she has housed troubled youth, including those who are LGBTQ+. Focusing on gender identity, she said, could act as a distraction from drug or mental health treatment the minor is undergoing. However, the bill would provide mental health treatment for transgender minors.
Incarcerated transgender minors aren’t the only ones impacted. The legislation also restricts transgender adult inmates from receiving gender-affirming care while in state custody. It would also be illegal for transgender adults to gain a prescription for hormone therapy.
“A correctional facility is not a place for an individual to make long, lasting and life-changing medical decisions, especially when we consider that those would be made at taxpayer expense,” Lisonbee said.
If a transgender inmate was already receiving gender-affirming care before incarceration they would be allowed to continue.
Miller said the decision to restrict certain kinds of health care access could face litigation.
“I'm worried about the other components of the bill in regards to reproductive health care access while an individual is in custody,” he said. “Health care for inmates held in custody of the state are determined on a case-by-case basis, and the courts are all over the place when it comes to this kind of litigation.”
In a statement, LGBTQ+ advocacy group Equality Utah said they’re troubled to see another piece of legislation focused on transgender individuals.
“[Equality Utah] wants to make sure that the language of the bill affords Juvenile Justice Youth Services personnel the ability to meet constitutional requirements that flow from the Eighth Amendment to keep trans inmates safe and secure while in the State’s care,” the statement read.
The ACLU of Utah, in their statement, criticized the bill for not having a pathway for transgender minors to live in a space that aligns with their gender identity.
“This bill strips power from those best positioned to make housing assignment decisions [and] instead enacts a rigid, bright-line rule that will put our trans youth at risk of harm and sexual violence,” said ACLU Legislative and Policy Counsel Ellie Menlove.
“This bill runs afoul of the state’s duty to protect Utahns from harm while incarcerated.”
The vote in the House was along party lines and the bill now heads to the Senate for consideration.