Why This San Francisco Pastor Is Raising Money for a Trans Woman of Color Jailed in Iowa
By
Jamilah King
Most people don't expect to end up in jail while they're on vacation.
But that's exactly what happened to Meagan Taylor, a
22-year-old black transgender woman from St. Louis who visited Des
Moines, Iowa, earlier this month. Taylor and a friend, an unnamed woman
who is reportedly also transgender, were staying at the town's Drury Inn
when hotel personnel called the police to report "two males dressed as females" who they suspect of possibly working as prostitutes.
Taylor studies cosmetology and was not engaged in sex work,
but when cops arrived they found hormones she uses to aid her gender
transition and arrested her for using prescription drugs without a
prescription. Thanks to a host of other legal entanglements, including $500 in fines she owes Illinois authorities because of a previous conviction for credit card fraud at age 17, Taylor remains in jail.
But she's not alone.
Pastor Megan Rohrer of San Francisco's The Welcome Ministry
heard about Taylor's story from friends in Iowa. Rohrer, who is the
first trans pastor ordained by the Lutheran Church and uses the pronoun
"they," says Taylor's story is all too common. "I had just visited South
Dakota and had all of the same fears [of being profiled], but nothing
had happened to me," Rohrer told Mic on Wednesday. "What happened to Meagan could have happened to me."
Walking while trans: Transgender women of color in
particular are so often profiled by police as sex workers that the
phenomenon has even earned a name: walking while trans, which was
detailed by German Lopez at Vox. A 2014 report
from Columbia University showed the extent to which law enforcement
polices gender. "LGBT people, specifically transgender women of color
and LGBT youth of color, are
endemically profiled as being engaged in sex work, public lewdness or
other sexual offenses," researchers wrote. "Police in
many jurisdictions use possession of condoms as evidence, supporting
arrests for prostitution-related
offenses."
Last Friday, Rohrer began crowdsourcing
funds to help Taylor raise money for bond and other legal expenses. So
far, the response has been overwhelming and they've raised more than
$5,000.
"When transphobia and discrimination feels so big we don't
know how to fix it, sometimes raising $4,000 feels more tangible,"
Rohrer said. "We can support the trans community by fixing something
smaller."
Even though the money for her bond has been raised, Taylor
will likely remain in jail until an Aug. 10 court date, unless that
court date is moved up.
h/t ThinkProgress
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