Calif. transgender prisoner law: Biological males attacking female inmates, says women's advocate

As biological males who identify as transgender women or nonbinary are being transferred upon request to female prisons in California, biologically female inmates have been assaulted by these new transfers, says Lauren Adams, Legal Counsel for the Women's Liberation Front (WoLF).

Following a California law that went into effect on Jan. 1 allowing inmates to use their claimed gender identity to determine whether they are incarcerated in men's or women's facilities, there have been 261 prison transfer applications. All but six were to be transferred to women's prisons, Fox News reported. At least 26 men have been transferred, but it may be more, Adams told the John Solomon Reports podcast Wednesday.

Adams cited a 2009 study that found 20.5% of biological men identifying as transgender women are registered sex offenders, with 49.8% of transgender women having committed crimes against persons.

As a result of the transfers following the new law, female inmates have been assaulted by male inmates.

"One of the first assaults we heard of was a man who was victimized in the men's prison," Adams said. "It's documented, he sued the state over it, and has transferred, and within weeks had attacked his female cellmate. And then they took him away, put him in prison jail, right — administrative segregation — for a couple of weeks and then dumped him on a different yard."

Adams said that there have been many similar incidents since the recent transfers began.

A transgender woman inmate who had sexually assaulted two young boys was transferred to a women's prison and stopped taking estrogen, "and he's already been sexually active with multiple women" within the three weeks he's been there, Adams said.

Adams said that "no one's listening" to the female inmates who are terrified of the violent men coming to their prisons. She also referenced the Department of Health and Human Services citing a 1994 study in 2001 that found 80% of female inmates had been victims of abuse.

"All of the organizations who usually work on prisoners' rights are not speaking out on this — they either want to stay neutral, or they're in favor of the law," she said.

Biological men identifying as transgender women cannot legally be separated in men's or women's prisons since it is legally considered stigmatizing and discriminatory.

Despite WoLF tagging California Gov. Gavin Newsom and state Senator Scott Wiener, the law's author, in social media posts and emailing them the information, "they don't want to hear from the women in there, they'd rather just forget them," Adams said.

Gov. Newsom's office and state senator Wiener's office did not immediately respond to requests for comment Wednesday evening.