Mar 24, 2007Quickie Link: Documentary 'Cruel and Unusual' Tackles Transgenders in Jail
By Kyleovision
In the United States, a shocking 30% of transgender people have been in incarcerated. Although the US Constitution forbids 'cruel and unusual' punishment for any crime, some argue that the placement of transgender women in male prisons represents this kind of punishment. ...Gay.com spoke with Reid Williams, whose award-winning documentary Cruel and Unusual chronicles the stories of five transgender prisoners and their often harrowing experiences.
Q: Why did you make this film?
A: I was working with organisations that help at risk GLBT youth in New York City, and I was told a story of a transgender woman in the juvenile justice system. They put her in a men's facility where she was brutally raped and beaten repeatedly.
I was so shocked by this I was inspired to investigate where else this was happening in the US. I found the problem to be widespread across the US prison system. Not one prison system had a just policy for transgender people.
The United States claims to be a model for human rights, and this is just one example where this is not true.
