A trans inmate serving time in a New Jersey women’s prison for manslaughter has been moved out after getting two fellow convicts pregnant, according to the state Department of Corrections.
Demi Minor, 27, was transferred out of the Edna Mahan Correctional Facility for Women in June, two months after NJ Advance Media reported Minor impregnated two women during “consensual sexual relationships.” Minor, who is serving a 30-year sentence and not eligible for parole until 2037, complained about being relocated to the Garden State Youth Correctional facility on a website maintained by supporters.
“This is the hell that NJDOC wants to put me through, this is my punishment for what occurs over 2 months ago, they have violated my right to be safe and free from sexual harassment, by putting me in one of the most violent youth Correctional facilities,” Minor wrote.
I’m Just Me! https://t.co/Wd8KzDdIFI
— Justice 4 Demi (@justice4demi) June 10, 2022
Minor complained of being abused by corrections officers during the move and by inmates at the youth facility. According to Minor’s website, Minor killed a former foster father in 2011 who Minor “wrongly blamed at the time” for sexual abuse.
“NJDOC cannot comment on any active investigations,” the state Department of Corrections said in a statement. “The Department has zero tolerance for abuse, and the safety and security of the incarcerated population and staff are of critical importance.”
Minor is being held in a specialized unit in a prison for young offenders, Dan Sperrazza, a Department of Corrections spokesman, told the outlet. It was not known if either of the pregnant prisoners remain pregnant.
The pregnancies drew attention to New Jersey’s transgender prisoner policy, which was established in the wake of a settlement agreement with the state American Civil Liberties Union chapter just over a year ago. The policy requires transgender prisoners to be held in prisons that match their gender identity, not their actual biological gender. The settlement agreement required the policy to remain in effect for one year, a period which ended last month, according to NJ.com.
Sperrazza said the DOC continues to follow the agreement and “is currently reviewing the policy for housing transgender incarcerated persons with the intention of implementing minor modifications.”
Most states house transgender prisoners in facilities matching their biological gender. Last year, California began allowing trans inmates to request transfer to prisons that do not match their biological sex. Hundreds reportedly applied for the transfers.
Last year, a transgender prisoner at New York City’s infamous Rikers Island jail raped a female prisoner while in the women’s section of the lockup, according to authorities. Ramel Blount, 33, who goes by Diamond Blount, took a deal to plead guilty to attempted rape April 7 and was sentenced to seven years, according to the New York Post.
Also last year, a transgender inmate allegedly raped a developmentally-disabled woman while both were confined behind bars at the Washington State Corrections Center for Women, MyNorthwest.com reported.