{"id":10773,"date":"2017-12-07T14:33:51","date_gmt":"2017-12-07T19:33:51","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/journals.law.harvard.edu\/crcl\/?p=10773"},"modified":"2017-12-07T14:35:12","modified_gmt":"2017-12-07T19:35:12","slug":"jazmynne-young-treatment-of-trans-prisoners-and-grassroots-advocacy-for-trans-rights","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/journals.law.harvard.edu\/crcl\/jazmynne-young-treatment-of-trans-prisoners-and-grassroots-advocacy-for-trans-rights\/","title":{"rendered":"Jazmynne Young: Treatment of Trans Prisoners and Grassroots Advocacy for Trans Rights"},"content":{"rendered":"

Jazmynne Young is a trans woman and LGBTQ rights activist. She was arrested this summer and held at Valley Street Jail in Manchester, NH for several days on charges of receiving stolen property. The charges were ultimately dropped. She spoke with me about her experiences and some of the poor treatment she experienced in jail as a trans individual, her work to ensure that other trans individuals are not subjected to the same treatment, and her LGBTQ advocacy work in New Hampshire. She is working to create the \u201cOut of the Box Hub,\u201d an LGBTQ community center, in Concord, NH. http:\/\/outoftheboxhub.com\/. The interview has been edited for length and clarity.<\/em><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

Tell me about your experience at Valley Street Jail.<\/strong><\/h3>\n

I was housed in the men\u2019s unit, but I was kept in a separate cell. They kept me on a different schedule from the other prisoners, so I wasn\u2019t let out to eat, shower, or have recreation at the same time as them. That meant that I wasn\u2019t given access to a phone. I could have posted bail right away if they\u2019d let me call someone, but they wouldn\u2019t let me. Eventually, another prisoner slipped me a note and I wrote him back and asked him to call my mother so I could post bail. But that was only after I\u2019d been there for days.<\/p>\n

They wouldn\u2019t give me access to my HIV medication while I was in there, either. I know there was at least one other trans woman in a single cell in the men\u2019s pod at the same time because I could hear the guards talking about her, but I couldn\u2019t see her or talk to her from my cell.<\/p>\n

While I was there, the prosecutor and most of the guards misgendered me. It was just awful treatment.<\/p>\n

Once you posted bail, what happened to your criminal case?<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Well, in the end it was dismissed. I didn\u2019t have a lawyer, but there was a public defender there who overheard my arraignment. She went back to her office and told them about me and how the prosecutor was misgendering me during the arraignment, and they sent a public defender.<\/p>\n

The public defender first got the whole thing reduced from a misdemeanor to a violation\u2014like a traffic ticket. Then the prosecutor who took over the case realized that the charges were bullsh*t, and the victim didn\u2019t want to press charges over such a small thing, so it got dropped.<\/p>\n

I\u2019m glad that worked out. What is happening with the jail?<\/strong><\/h3>\n

For me, what\u2019s most important is that something like that doesn\u2019t happen to anyone else again.<\/p>\n

[pullquote]I want to know what they are doing to train their staff to be sure the rules are being implemented.[\/pullquote]<\/p>\n

I\u2019m working with the ACLU in New Hampshire. They got a lot of documents from the jail about their LGBTQ policies, but that doesn\u2019t matter to me if those policies aren\u2019t being implemented and followed. They need the written laws and rules, but\u00a0I want to know what they are doing to train their staff to be sure the rules are being implemented.<\/p>\n

I know you aren\u2019t originally from New Hampshire. What made you decide to stay there after all of this happened?<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Well, frankly, at the time, I had no car and no income. There\u2019s no public transportation, even, so at first I didn\u2019t stay by choice. But then I saw the need for LGBTQ services here.<\/p>\n

I met with homeless people in Manchester\u2014teenagers even\u2014who were kicked out of their houses for being LGBTQ. I\u2019ve met wealthier people in New Hampshire who don\u2019t come out as LGBTQ because there\u2019s no community\u2014no support.<\/p>\n

I met with LGBTQ people in New Hampshire who had left because of the lack of LGBTQ services and culture. They go to Boston, New York, Florida\u2014even Maine! I had to wonder, what is wrong with New Hampshire? Why are these close places so far behind New Hampshire when it comes to LGBTQ services and culture?[pullquote]If someone was in a situation like I was with the jail, they should have a place to turn.[\/pullquote]<\/p>\n

The LGBTQ community needs a place that provides fun, entertainment, community, resources, and a safe space. If someone was in a situation like I was with the jail, they should have a place to turn.<\/p>\n

The people I\u2019ve talked to tell me they don\u2019t realize how far behind New Hampshire is until they leave. Everyone I\u2019ve talked to agrees that New Hampshire needs this\u2014so it\u2019s not just me making it up.<\/p>\n

How have you focused your efforts? What has been especially challenging?<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Concord, Manchester, and Nashua are considered the cosmopolitan parts of NH, but they\u2019re still far behind other places in the world. There\u2019s nothing going on in Concord for LGBTQ folks. Just look at what goes on in other capitals. Compared to that, there\u2019s nothing here. I\u2019m starting in Concord because, as the capital, it should be the model for the rest of New Hampshire.<\/p>\n

What we need here is more visibility and more community. There are a lot of LGBTQ people, but they are not visible, and there are no resources to support them. I hear a lot of allies tell me that they want to help, but they don\u2019t know where to go or what to do.<\/p>\n

People I\u2019ve met here have told me that in New England, and New Hampshire in particular, people can have a hard time reaching out beyond the familiar faces they know. To some extent, I expect that from straight or cisgender people, but LGBTQ people really need to be connected and have a visible community.<\/p>\n

[pullquote]What we need here is more visibility and more community.[\/pullquote]<\/p>\n

So, I\u2019ve been meeting with a lot of people. I met with the governor\u2019s policy director to tell him about the need for these resources. I met with the new mayor of Manchester. I\u2019ve been circulating a petition. I\u2019m working on registering as a nonprofit, getting a board, registering the name.<\/p>\n

I don\u2019t have the money to start this up, but I know how to be an activist and a leader. I know how to set up these organizations and get them running. There\u2019s plenty of money here in New Hampshire.<\/p>\n

Where else have you done this kind of work?<\/strong><\/h3>\n

I was the secretary of Stonewall Democrats in Nevada and worked for Gender Justice in Nevada and Los Angeles. I worked for an organization called Rainbow House, which was a domestic violence organization that offered support to victims regardless of their sexuality or gender identity or expression. I was on one of the first teams to put together Las Vegas Pride in 2013. It started out as a five-day event, but now it\u2019s six days long. I also started the Las Vegas Trans Glam Gala\u2014an award ceremony for transgender people and their allies\u2014we even had Charlene Moore from the Weather Girls perform!<\/p>\n

But I\u2019ve worked in rural areas, too. In Arkansas, I created an organization called \u201cHelping Tranzform-U.\u201d It offered support for transgender people and other people exploring their gender identity and expression. We had donated clothing, and I would take people shopping for clothes that fit their gender identity. I\u2019d also just talk to them and give them coaching. I got a grant from the Trans Justice Funding Project to start that organization, so I\u2019ll probably do the same thing here.<\/p>\n

When I lead organizations, it\u2019s important for me to train the next leaders. Some leaders want to be in charge all the time, but I don\u2019t mind being the person who starts things up and lets other people take over. I may not be in New Hampshire for the rest of my life, but I do want to see things change. A true leader teaches other people how to become leaders and learns from people who have more experience than they do.<\/p>\n

What are you working on now? <\/strong><\/h3>\n

When I have a passion to do something, I can\u2019t rest until I\u2019m done. If I have vision for it, I\u2019m not going to quit until I see some kind of result. Every organization I\u2019ve been part of is still going.<\/p>\n

I need to create a board for Out of the Box Hub and register it. I\u2019m talking with someone involved with the New Hampshire Charitable Foundation to work on getting registered as a 501(c)(3).<\/p>\n

I\u2019m also working on the board. I need to be sure that the board isn\u2019t dominated by cis white gay men, because that is often the case at these types of organizations. I want Out of the Box Hub to be more representative and inclusive.<\/p>\n

I\u2019m getting connected with financial sponsors and resources. There might be philanthropists, or funding from the state, like state HIV programs.<\/p>\n

I\u2019m also working on getting a location. I think it might start out as a big New England style house that we can put community spaces and offices in. I don\u2019t care if it\u2019s a foreclosed property as long as it passes inspection. We could even have a community building event to fix it up if we needed to.<\/p>\n

I\u2019m also going to be at New England College in Concord from 6:00\u20138:00pm on December 6. It\u2019s a community discussion\u2014not just for students\u2014so we can raise visibility. There will even be food there. You have to have food!<\/p>\n

[pullquote]You can\u2019t change things if you don\u2019t admit there\u2019s something wrong.[\/pullquote]<\/p>\n

Good luck with everything. Any last words before we end the interview?<\/strong><\/h3>\n

You can\u2019t change things if you don\u2019t admit there\u2019s something wrong. I understand that people are proud of the place they live\u2014where they\u2019re from\u2014but you have to be able to recognize when there\u2019s a problem and be willing to work to solve it.<\/p>\n

\n

Cover art composite of two Creative Commons Images: 1<\/a>, 2<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Jazmynne Young is a trans woman and LGBTQ rights activist. She was arrested this summer and held at Valley Street 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