A male inmate — who identifies as a woman and was moved to a male prison after having sex with a female inmate — filed a lawsuit claiming the move was “unconstitutionally cruel.”
The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of Washington, which is representing Bryan Kim, who goes by Amber FayeFox Kim, filed a lawsuit on December 17.
The suit claimed that the Washington Department of Corrections (DOC) is “forcing Ms. Kim to live in a single-sex prison that does not align with her gender identity and placing her at imminent risk of violence.”
Kim, who had spent over three years in a women’s prison, was transferred to a men’s prison in June 2024 after a “single, non-violent infraction issued after Ms. Kim was caught having consensual sex with her roommate,” according to the petition filed.
“For the first time in Washington’s history, the Washington State Department of Corrections (‘DOC’) transferred a transgender woman from a women’s prison to a men’s prison,” the lawsuit states. “For over three years, Amber Kim—a transgender woman—served her sentence at the Washington Corrections Center for Women (‘WCCW’)”
The lawsuit continues:
However, in June of 2024, DOC transferred Ms. Kim to a men’s prison due to a single, non-violent infraction after Ms. Kim was caught having consensual sex with her roomate. While Ms. Kim’s roommate suffered minor consequences—a two month change of security status at WCCW and related loss of privileges—DOC moved Ms. Kim to a men’s prison for the exact same underlying behavior.
DOC is forcing Ms. Kim to live in a single-sex prison that does not align with her gender identity and placing her at imminent risk of violence. DOC’s placement decision has devastating consequences for Ms. Kim. During her prior placement at men’s prisons, Ms. Kim endured physical violence, stalking, harassment, and attempted sexual assaults due to her gender identity and presentation. At WCCW, Ms. Kim was free from this constant barrage of violence and harassment. She attended college, worked as a tutor, and engaged in positive programming. Now, Ms. Kim elects to live in solitary confinement rather than endure the physical and psychological harm that would become her everyday reality if housed in men’s general population. And while solitary confinement keeps her physically safe, she experiences the significant emotional harm that comes with isolation.
“The decision to transfer Ms. Kim to a men’s prison is cruel and violates the Washington Constitution,” Adrien Leavitt, a staff attorney with ACLU-WA said in a statement. “Transphobia on the part of the DOC hurts safety in state prisons and serves no legitimate purpose.”
Breitbart News previously reported that a Washington DOC worker told the National Review that “there is ‘technically’ no consensual sex between inmates, but the state ‘has been mitigating the sanctions on offenders involved.'”
Under the Biden administration, in January 2022, the Bureau of Prisons “revised its annual on serving transgender offenders, improving access to gender-affirming care and access to facility placements that align with an inmate’s gender identity,” according to a press release from the White House in March 2022.
