Transgender Woman is Made to Show Her Genitals by Dallas Sheriff Officers To Prove The Point
Valerie Jackson says she was subjected to humiliation and emotional pain after Dallas County officials refused to house her with the women on three separate occasions in less than two years.
Jackson, 32, who legally changed her gender to female, was first arrested in November 2016 for having a gun in her bag at a Dallas airport. She claims the officers gave her a hard time after she explained that she didn’t have a menstrual cycle because she is transgender.
“Did you have a sex change or something?” an unidentified officer asked her at the time, according to the suit. When she replied that she had, the officials ordered her to show her genitals in order for them to decide where to house her, which she says she repeatedly declined to do.
“We need to know if you’ve had a sex change or not. We need to see if you have a penis or a vagina. We have to protect you,” an officer allegedly said. “We can’t put you with men if you have a vagina.”
She ultimately obliged after repeated orders from the officers, causing her “severe distress,” the suit claims, and she was then housed with the men.
“Ms. Jackson was then placed in her own cell, where the male inmates began questioning her through the cell door,” reads an excerpt from the lawsuit, which was filed Friday in U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas. “They were asking her if she was a ‘tranny’ or a ‘real girl’, telling her all the sexual things they wanted to do to her, grabbing themselves, calling her a ‘he/she,’ and calling her many other derogatory words.”
She claims she was forced to shower with the male inmates, and that one of them masturbated as he looked at her in the shower.
Jackson was arrested a third time in June and placed with the men again. An officer made her shower with the men during that incarceration as well, and a male inmate masturbated in front of her that time as well, the lawsuit claims.
Jackson was arrested a third time in June and placed with the men again. An officer made her shower with the men during that incarceration as well, and a male inmate masturbated in front of her that time as well, the lawsuit claims.
“She on three separate times endured horrific, humiliating treatment by tens of jailers,” Jackson’s attorney, Scott Palmer, told the Daily News.
“Every single human being has rights, civil liberties. It applies to everybody,” he continued. “It does not matter what their sexual orientation, sexual identity or their sexual preference is.”
A copy of Dallas County’s policy for interacting with transgender, intersex and nonconforming individuals obtained by the Daily News says no person should be treated differently due to their sexuality or identity.
“All Dallas County Sheriff's Department personnel will treat all persons, regardless of race, religion, color, sex, national origin, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, age, or disability, with the courtesy and dignity which is inherently due every person as a human being,” reads the policy.
A spokesman for Dallas County Sheriff Marian Brown told the Daily News that the office could not comment on Jackson’s lawsuit.
“Since it is pending litigation, under advice from attorney, we were instructed not to say anything about the lawsuit,” the Sheriff’s Office’s public information officer Raul Reyna said.
Brown took over as Dallas County Sheriff in January 2018. Lupe Valdez, who previously held the position, is currently running for governor in Texas as a Democrat.
With her lawsuit, Jackson hopes to ensure the alleged mistreatment she endured in custody in Dallas “doesn’t happen to anyone else,” Palmer said. They are seeking unspecified damages in the case.
Palmer notes that Jackson could’ve used a pseudonym to shield her identity in the case, but opted to take on the situation publicly.
“She wants to make a difference,” Palmer said.
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