Elton John and REM singer urge the US government to protect trans inmates
By Josh Haggis
Elton John and REM singer Michael Stipe are calling on the US government to do more to protect transgender inmates in the country’s jails.
The music icons and LGBT activists have released a joint statement condemning the state of Georgia after it was criticised by the US Justice Department for refusing to provide hormone treatment to transgender inmate Ashley Diamond.
Diamond, who claims to have been raped seven times during her three years in prison, has said that her body has changed dramatically since being denied access to the female hormones which she had been taking for 17 years prior to being imprisoned.
Read John and Stipe’s full statement below:
“We applaud the US Department of Justice for supporting Ashley Diamond and the trans community in arguing that Georgia’s policy of denying transgender inmates their medically necessary hormone treatment is unconstitutional.
But we must do more to end the culture of violence and discrimination surrounding gender identity and expression. We urge the state of Georgia to embrace desperately needed changes to their correctional system.”
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