Lisa Mitchell, an inmate at the Dane County Jail, shared stories about the numerous challenges the criminal justice system has imposed on her due to her status as a transgender woman.
Mitchell has been in and out of jail for years, her most recent sentence beginning in May due to what she described as “prostitution gone wrong."
According to Mitchell’s lawyer, Charles Ver Hoeve, Mitchell was homeless at the time, having been turned down from women’s shelters. She said she fears men’s shelters due to the harassment and bullying she has encountered there.
In May, Mitchell was visiting her sister at a residence on the south side of Madison when a man approached her on the street and “propositioned her for sexual acts,” according to Mitchell and Ver Hoeve.
According to Ver Hoeve, when Mitchell complied, the man began to beat her with his belt. When the police arrived, the man reported that he and his wife were walking when Mitchell attacked them.
The incident report presented the man’s version of the story. Mitchell was sentenced to nine months in jail for the incident and two other counts of misdemeanor this May.
Ver Hoeve said the man’s story was fabricated and contained many inconsistencies, describing it as implausible. He also criticized the police and agents’ handling of Mitchell’s case from the beginning.
"If the agent was doing a better job at providing [Lisa] with appropriate housing and a place to be, then this kind of incident would not have happened,” Ver Hoeve said.
Under the dim light in the visitation booth, Mitchell lifted her jail uniform to reveal deep scars from the incident and from several others throughout her life.
Due to her gender identity, Mitchell is often placed with male inmates and has encountered severe harassment and abuse inside and outside of jail. Her treatment led to her placement in solitary confinement, which the jail said was for her own safety.
Local LGBT activist Z! Lula Haukeness noted transgender inmates disproportionately suffer harassment and abuse in jails nationwide.
“Trans women are placed on the men’s segregated side when they should be on the women’s side. They are often harassed by correctional officers, sexually assaulted by other inmates or officers,” Haukeness said.
Mitchell said she has also faced discrimination outside of jail. The state statute against transgender individuals receiving care delayed her transition.
After BadgerCare denied Mitchell hormone replacement therapy, which Haukeness said replaces hormones to help an individual’s inner identity align with their external sense of self, Mitchell filed a federal case against Medicaid.
“We go through a great deal of gender dysphoria and the treatments help us cope,” she said. “People under the BadgerCare program being denied this treatment are at imminent danger for suicide.”
Although Mitchell’s psychiatrist confirmed that she needed the treatment, the Wisconsin Department of Health Services denied Mitchell’s therapy due to the state statute.
The department declined to comment on the issue.
Mitchell said the therapy is inexpensive and believes the statute reflects bigotry against transgender individuals.
“It’s not about money. It’s that they’re not supporting a man who wants to be a woman,” Mitchell said.
Mitchell appealed the decision and won her case. She said she intends to work to change the statute statewide to eliminate exclusions against other transgender individuals, which she said violate the equal protection clause of the 14th Amendment.
“It’s unconstitutional because you have transgender people who pay taxes and their tax money supports the BadgerCare Plus programs,” Mitchell said. “The very program they’re supporting denies their treatment.”
U.S. Sen. Tammy Baldwin, D-Wis., sent Mitchell a letter of support Oct. 9, agreeing she deserved coverage for hormonal therapy.
UW-Madison professor Karma Chávez, whose research explores LGBT activism and policy, also stressed the importance of treatment for Mitchell and other transgender individuals.
“Hormone replacement therapy has been shown across the board to be a vital medical treatment and there’s been a lot of research that has shown that those incarcerated have the right [to it],” Chávez said.
Chávez explained Dane County should take every measure to cover Mitchell’s health-care needs whether she is incarcerated or not.
“It’s a question of human rights, that she is a human who should be treated fairly regardless of whether [Mitchell] is incarcerated or not,” Chávez said. “She deserves adequate medical treatment.”
Following a November hearing, Mitchell faces nine more months of jail time for three counts of misdemeanor.
“Being in jail isn’t going to help [Lisa]. [She] needs to be out, in a safe place to live, and to have the kind of health care and mental health services and social services to reestablish and help get [her] back on [her] feet,” Ver Hoeve said.
