A Trans Woman Vet Is Not an "Impersonator"

On 20 April, 2010, a group of six military veterans handcuffed themselves to the White House fence to pressure President Obama to include the repeal of DADT in his submission of the Defense Authorization Budget. It serves to reason that these six people were arrested, just like Lt. Dan Choi and Army Capt. James Pietrangelo were when they did the same recently in the name of repealing DADT. These civil acts of defiance stand out in my mind as nigh heroic on their own; being able to use the fundamentals of what the military has taught us to further a cause is such a proud thing. But for one woman among those six, it was an act that could have put her life at greater risk, knowing that she would likely be arrested.

Autumn Sandeen, of Pam's House Blend, a U.S. Navy veteran and in her own words a "strong, confident transgender woman," was probably well aware of the risks involved in being arrested while trans. The high rate of police mistreatment is well known amongst those who are familiar with issues affecting trans people. Ms. Sandeen was indeed mistreated, as she outlines in her open letter to President Obama, describing in detail how many of the U.S. Marshals treated her while she was in custody and being processed.

Despite many places now having specific laws regarding the processing of trans inmates allowing them to be placed into the holding facilities according to how they identify, Autumn Sandeen was first processed properly as a woman, and then reprocessed as a man, being called an "it" and a "shim" and an "impersonator" during this time. Despite the fact that practices like this lead to an increased rate of trans-based violence behind bars, including startling rates of sexual assault and rape — as high as 59% according to one study — U.S. Marshals wrongly processed Ms. Sandeen, and did so in a very dehumanizing manner, all the while joking about her gender identity.

Autumn states that she felt that these "representatives wouldn't protect [her] if these prisoners had sought to physically harm [her]  — because [she] was a less than human, a 'shim'" What other conclusion would she be led to draw based on this behavior?

Autumn Sandeen was never dishonest about her gender identity during her time in custody. From the very beginning, she was upfront about being a transgender woman. She disclosed very personal information about herself right away, something that most people never have to do or even think about when being arrested for things like civil disobedience. But this is par for the course. Because we don't demand that everyone see trans people as human, we allow trans based violence to be just peachy, and allow for government officials to call a trans woman veteran horrible slurs. We expect that they should have to go the extra steps to ensure their own safety when we wouldn't expect it of ourselves, because we have created echelons of humanity. I guess some people just don't fit into any of them.

Photo Credit: Autumn Sandeen with permission