A transgender prisoner in New Jersey who pregnant two other convicts prompted authorities to transfer her to another institution, according to a report released on Saturday.
According to a spokeswoman for the New Jersey Department of Corrections, Demi Minor, 27, was transferred last month from the Edna Mahan Correctional Facility for Women to the Garden State Youth Correctional Facility, a jail for young people in Burlington County.
Minor, who is serving a 30-year term for manslaughter, is the sole female in a vulnerable section in the new prison, according to the spokeswoman.
Minor said in a blog post on the website Justice 4 Demi on July 15 that guards turned down her request to be strip-searched by a female DOC officer and that she was put on suicide watch at the new institution “due to the fact that I had hung myself in the van.”
She said that after being momentarily transported to the New Jersey State Prison, she was addressed predominantly as a guy more than 30 times, adding, “This has not happened to me in years.”
The DOC declined to comment on the allegations, but informed NJ.com that it was looking into them. A previous post claimed that Minor was taken out of the female jail without her will and abused while being relocated.
Minor’s action comes months after it became public knowledge that she had conceived two prisoners while detained at the female prison after having consensual encounters with another prisoner.
A rule allowing inmates to be detained in line with their desired gender identification was adopted by New Jersey in 2021. The provision, which must be in place for at least a year, is a result of a civil rights lawsuit won by a woman who was made to spend 18 months in a male jail.
The Department of Corrections (DOC) claimed that although it continues to operate under the policy, it is now studying it with the aim of making small changes.
The spokesman explained that housing decisions are decided within the confines of the settlement agreement, which calls for taking into account the person’s health and safety as well as gender identity.
According to the site, Minor will be eligible for parole in 2037.
