Being Transgender is a Crime!

HANDCUFFS02.JPGOn Friday July 29th, 2005 Kim Stankovich turned herself in at the Spokane County Jail. Her crime? Being transgender. Kim is serving a seven day sentence in the county jail for being a transgender. Kim stated in her journal that

“In my initial temporary hearing I was told that going to school was a luxury and was ordered to get a full time job. I have completed my junior year at Eastern Washington University, working towards a BA in Psychology. My initial financial statement I showed that after school expenses I had about $1000. Per month. to live on. Though, I haven’t made more than that since 1996 and the commissioner still imputed my income at $1800. per month, never mind that I had been injured on the job and am partially disabled as per the State of Washington Labor and Industries. So then I was ordered to pay $1000. per month in child support, to dress as a man when with my children, and to quit school and get a full time job. After being held in contempt for not being able to pay, the last commissioner said ‘I am not convinced that being transgender is not a choice like being a punk rocker.'”

If this injustice moves you, please take action! The most basic action you can do is spread the word! Simply link to this entry! Please spread the word about this outrageous abortion of justice.

LiveJournal user Zorah also suggests to:

1) Write her a letter of support! Kim’s family is all over the country, and none of them are here. Because of visitation restrictions, Kim will not see her girls for a month (this was her weekend). Last night she did not sleep at all, but spent her time reading and responding to all the responses you lovely people posted on LJ. I know it meant a lot to her, and it would mean a lot if she got supportive mail while she was in jail.

If you are worried about your letter arriving on time, the post office can send it 2-day mail for a little extra.

Kim’s Address:

William Stankovich
Spokane County Jail
1100 West Mallon
Spokane, WA 99260-0320

2) Write letters to the editor and the local news telling them how you feel about Kim’s sentence. Urge them to cover the story.

The Inlander (our free weekly): totheeditor@inlander.com
The Spokesman Review (our daily paper): newstip – news@spokesman.com letter to the editor – editor@spokesman.com
KREM TV: newsdesk@krem.com
KXLY TV: news4@kxly.com
KHQ TV: you have to go here – http://msnbc.msn.com/id/3082888/ and fill out the box that says ‘contact KHQ’ in the bottom right of the page

3) Paypal a buck for Kim’s commissary and book fund.

more pictures here.

Marti Abernathey is the founder of the Transadvocate and the previous managing editor. Abernathey has worn many different hats, including that of podcaster, activist, and radiologic technologist. She's been a part of various internet radio ventures such as TSR Live!, The T-Party, and The Radical Trannies, TransFM, and Sodium Pentathol Sunday. As an advocate she's previously been involved with the Indiana Transgender Rights Advocacy Alliance, Rock Indiana Campaign for Equality, and the National Transgender Advocacy Coalition. She's taken vital roles as a grass roots community organizer in The Indianapolis Tax Day Protest (2003), The Indy Pride HRC Protest (2004), Transgender Day of Remembrance (2004), Indiana's Witch Hunt (2005), and the Rally At The Statehouse (the largest ever GLBT protest in Indiana - 3/2005). In 2008 she was a delegate from Indiana to the Democratic National Convention and a member of Barack Obama's LGBT Steering and Policy Committee. Abernathey currently hosts the Youtube Channel "The T-Party with Marti Abernathey."

2 Comments

  1. an email just sent to me.

    Dr. Hyatt-Wallace

    I was forwarded your e-mail and listed concerns. I have addressed this issue with the jail’s classification unit and have removed Stankovich from all male housing. Stankovich is housed and will remained housed in our pre-classification module. This areas houses both female and male inmates. Stankovich will be kept seperate from other inmates and housed alone during this jail stay. We have booked this individual as Stankovich, William with an, a.k.a. as Stankovich, Kimberly as per the order from Superior Court of Washington, County of Spokane.

    Lt. Gary L. Delzer
    Spokane County Sheriff’s Office
    Jail Division – Custody Operations
    (509) 477-6354
    gdelzer@spokanesheriff.org

  2. an email just sent to me.

    Dr. Hyatt-Wallace

    I was forwarded your e-mail and listed concerns. I have addressed this issue with the jail’s classification unit and have removed Stankovich from all male housing. Stankovich is housed and will remained housed in our pre-classification module. This areas houses both female and male inmates. Stankovich will be kept seperate from other inmates and housed alone during this jail stay. We have booked this individual as Stankovich, William with an, a.k.a. as Stankovich, Kimberly as per the order from Superior Court of Washington, County of Spokane.

    Lt. Gary L. Delzer
    Spokane County Sheriff’s Office
    Jail Division – Custody Operations
    (509) 477-6354
    gdelzer@spokanesheriff.org

Comments are closed.