Transgender woman in New York reaches landmark settlement with county jail after great discrimination

A transgender woman in New York has achieved a significant settlement with Broome County after experiencing violence, discrimination and the denial of medical care while in custody at Broome County Jail.

Broome County will adopt new policies affirming the rights of transgender people in the jail after a woman said she was discriminated against while in custody at the jail.

Makyyla Holland, a 25-year-old Black transgender woman, reached a settlement with the county Thursday after filing a lawsuit in 2022 saying she was the victim of multiple forms of harassment, including physical abuse, misgendering and refusal of access to medication and commissary items during her time in at the jail in 2021.

As part of the settlement, the county will pay Holland $160,000 for the harms she suffered, according to the New York Civil Liberties Union (NYCLU) and Transgender Legal Defense & Education Fund (TLDEF).

"No one should ever have to go through what I went through at the Broome County Jail and I am so grateful that with this new policy, hopefully, no one else ever will," Holland said in a written statement. "This policy and policies like it can impact a lot of my community and I will continue to fight to ensure that no other trans person in New York or anywhere has to endure what I did."

What the new policies entail

Under the settlement, the county is changing its policies to comply with federal and state laws, according to a statement from the NYCLU and TLDEF. Specifically, the county will:

• House people consistent with their gender identity or within the unit consistent with the sex designation the person in custody believes is safest for them.
• Conduct searches consistent with the person in custody’s own view of what gender officer would be safest to perform the search.
• Ensure that staff at the jail respect a person’s gender identity in all other contexts, including name and pronoun use.
• Ensure access to clothing and toiletry items consistent with a person’s gender identity, and facilitate access to gender-affirming items such as binders, wigs, and gaffs.
• Ensure access to medical care free from discrimination on the basis of sex, gender identity, gender expression, or sexual orientation, including access to medical care for treatment of gender dysphoria.

This policy isn't the first to be enacted in the Southern Tier. In August 2020, the NYCLU and TLDEF reached a settlement with Steuben County, which adopted similar policies.

"Today we celebrate the stunning, transgender rights victory of courageous Makyyla Holland and the NYCLU in their lawsuit against Broome County, the Sheriff, Undersheriff, officers, and medical staff," Justice and Unity in the Southern Tier (JUST) said in a written statement Thursday. "This is a wonderful outcome, and we look forward to observing its implementation at the County jail and other facilities."

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Broome County did not comment on the matter but referred to the jail administration.

"While this settlement stems from an incident and subsequent lawsuit that occurred before I was elected Sheriff, I’m pleased we were able to amicably reach a resolution that establishes clear LGBTI Guidelines, which were previously nonexistent, to address the rights of LGBTI inmates while maintaining the safety and security of individuals both housed and working at the Broome County Correctional Facility," Broome County Sheriff Fred Akshar said.

"It’s another important step forward in pragmatically and safely modernizing policies to meet the needs of those we serve and protect as we work to build a better, safer community for everyone in Broome County.”

What the lawsuit says

During Holland's first period of incarceration between January and February 2021, the lawsuit states Holland faced several injustices, including:

• Being physically attacked during the intake process, suffering multiple bruises, cuts, a broken tooth and a painful lump on her head that caused her severe migraines. 
• Never seen by a dentist or offered any treatment for her broken tooth, the pain in the back of her head and the migraine headaches she endured as a result, other than ibuprofen.
• Assigned to the men's unit inside the Broome County jail and placed in an isolated cell by herself with glass walls on all sides, visible to men in the unit at all times, despite informing correctional officers several times about her transgender status.
• Denied access to a shower and the ability to leave the cell during periods when men she detained with were allowed out.

Between June and July 2021, the lawsuit claims Holland’s second period of incarceration in the Broome County jail saw similar injustices, such as:

• Strip searched by several men, forced to peel off her acrylic nails without the appropriate tools and placed exclusively within men’s housing units, despite disclosing her transgender status multiple times. 
• Her wig, which was glued to her head, was ordered to be removed.
• Medical providers denied her hormone replacement therapy medications for four weeks, never provided her with her prescribed testosterone blockers or antidepressants and only provided her with a single estrogen injection after she had been in the jail for 28 days. 

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These denials caused horrible withdrawal symptoms, according to the documents, and she had to postpone her gender-affirming surgery. 

Throughout Holland’s stay in the Broome County jail, the lawsuit states she was harassed and misgendered repeatedly and was forced to shower in full view of the male staff and the men in custody.  

Holland was denied access to undergarments, hygiene products and commissary items routinely afforded to women in the Broome County jail, according to the documents. 

The lawsuit also states Holland reported some instances to one of the correctional officers, as well as submitted several grievance slips, which Holland’s lawsuit claims she never received any responses to. 

Emily Barnes is the New York State Team Consumer Advocate Reporter for the USA Today Network. Contact Emily at [email protected] or on Twitter @byemilybarnes. To get unlimited access to the latest news, please subscribe or activate your digital account today.