Colorado prisons will protect transgender women from sexual abuse and provide them with required healthcare thanks to a precedent-setting settlement agreement negotiated by Greisen Medlock. Transgender women are typically imprisoned in male-designated prisons, subjecting them to routine sexual harassment and violence. And necessary medical treatment – such as hormone replacement treatment and gender affirming surgery – is regularly falsely identified as “elective” or cosmetic. Greisen Medlock’s settlement with the Colorado Department of Corrections changes that. In addition to many other protections, transgender women will now have the option of living in two transgender-only housing units, and CDOC’s policies are being changed to make sure transgender women can receive medically-necessary healthcare. Colorado is now leading the way in how transgender women are treated in custody, thanks to the work of Greisen Medlock.
A copy of the consent decree is available here.
Colorado Plans to Create Special Housing Units for Transgender Women in Prison – NPR
Historic Legal Settlement Would Create Housing for Transgender Inmates in Colorado – 9News
Colorado to Become First State to Create Transgender Housing Units for Prisoners – NBC News Now
