Transphobia Is On Rise In Rikers Under New Jail Chief, Advocates Say

QUEENS, NEW YORK — Trans women in Rikers Island face increased danger after a special jail unit's collapse, and the city's jail chief is to blame, advocates charged.

Whistleblowers raised grave concerns about the LGBTQ+ Affairs Unit's survival under Mayor Eric Adams and Department of Correction Commissioner Louis Molina in an exposé by THE CITY published Tuesday.

Jail officials since Molina took over no longer took serious input from the unit, leading many trans women to be housed in dangerous all-male units, whistleblowers and inmates alike told THE CITY. Two whistleblowers resigned in protest to rising transphobia, according to the report.

The story prompted a furious response from advocates with The Legal Aid Society, who accused Department of Correction Commissioner Louis Molina of failing people who are transgender, gender non-conforming, non-binary and intersex — or TGNCNBI — in custody.

“While policies and practices weren’t perfect under Mayor de Blasio, the deliberate indifference expressed by Commissioner Molina to the well-being of incarcerated TGNCNBI New Yorkers truly shocks the soul,” said Mik Kinkead, staff attorney with the group's LGBTQ+ law and policy unit, in a statement.

"Commissioner Molina’s actions gutted LGBTQ+ Initiatives by reducing it to a single employee and he continues to stonewall the Task Force."

In a statement provided to Patch, Molina said the Department of Correction will continue to be a national leader in the housing and care of LGBTQ+ and TGBNI people.

"We will not tolerate transphobic, homophobic or any other form of derogatory behavior and anyone caught violating this policy will be subject to disciplinary action," he said.

"Although we remain a model for other correctional jurisdictions, we recognize that there will always be room for improvement given the unique and fluid needs of this population and all the almost six thousand persons in our custodial care. Whoever gave THE CITY this information must have been working in the past administration and unable to make changes themselves on these important issues.”

THE CITY report details how the unit's staff, in their telling, had previously been able to successfully advocate for trans womens' proper placement within the jail, even against what one whistleblower deemed "transphobic" attitudes.

After Molina took over, however, the LGBTQ+ Affairs unit members said they were increasingly hobbled as like-minded officials got ousted and hostile Department of Correction staff got empowered, according to the report.

Transphobia and harmful decisions for trans women followed, advocates argued.

Public defenders with Legal Aid argued the city should adopt reforms including housing people based on gender identity and immediately releasing TGNCNBI New Yorkers from custody.

Read the full THE CITY report here.