This story is part of the Marshall Project’s “We Are Witnesses: Chicago” series. In 15 direct-to-camera testimonies, this collection of videos gives voice to Chicagoans affected by the justice system. Watch the videos at themarshallproject.org/chicago.
In 2011, the Cook County Department of Corrections bolstered protections for trans women. Sheriff Tom Dart found there was no uniformity to how trans inmates had previously been detained inside the jail. The county’s jail was one of the earliest in the nation to adopt progressive policies like mandating others use a person’s correct pronouns and providing gender-affirming undergarments. Still, trans women complained of harassment from correctional staff and other inmates. According to the 2011 National Transgender Discrimination Survey, 37 percent of incarcerated trans people reported harassment from correctional officers. Those of color reported higher rates of harassment than white trans people. Two years later, Division Six was born at Cook County Corrections—a protective custody unit for trans women.
“I used the parable of the pedestrian who got into an accident: one day a driver runs over a pedestrian’s foot, and the pedestrian’s foot broke. He sat and cried about it, and the doctor said, well, you’ll walk again, as long as you come to therapy,” she says, describing her work.” All he did was cry, cry, cry and said, ‘Oh, this is so unfair. This shouldn’t have happened to me.’ At the end of the day, the accident is not your fault, but the recovery is your responsibility. v
