On April 29, 2025, the California legislature shot down a bill prohibiting trans-identifying men with a history of sexual violence from being housed in women’s correctional facilities.
The Golden State allows prisoners to be incarcerated in correctional facilities matching their preferred gender identity after passing the Transgender Respect, Agency, and Dignity Act, or SB132, in 2021. Other states with similar laws are Maine, New York, Minnesota, New Jersey, and Washington.
However, safety concerns for biological women have persisted, prompting state Sen. Shannon Grove to introduce SB311. If it passed, the law would’ve required the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR) to provide a secure facility to house transgender-identifying men in women’s prisons to protect the security needs of biological women.
Additionally, it would’ve ban biological men who identify as women and are registered sex offenders from being housed in women’s facilities.
“Any inmate convicted of an offense for which they are required to register pursuant to Section 290, except for biological women at birth, shall be ineligible for housing at a women’s prison.”
Currently, California law requires the CDCR to consider each transgender inmate’s request for transfer to a female facility. Such transfer requests do not consider the inmate’s sexual violence history, whether they have intact male genitalia, or have undergone gender transition procedures.
About 898 transgender-identifying men have requested to be transferred to women’s facilities, of which 45 have been effected, while 208 are still pending.
Meanwhile, the CDCR is aware of potential intimate relations between transgender-identifying male prisoners and their biological counterparts and distributes condoms in prison.
Similarly, it is aware that biological female inmates are afraid of potential sexual violence from transgender-identifying male counterparts. Physical violence and other forms of degrading and demeaning attacks on biological female inmates by transgender inmates have been widely reported.
Over one quarter of inmates have experienced such incidents, including sexual assaults by biological male inmates who identify as women, while two-thirds are afraid for their safety.
Several high-profile cases of sexual assault by trans-identifying individuals have been reported in California and other states.
In 2024, Tremaine Carroll, a six-foot-tall biological man who identifies as a woman was accused of raping two inmates one of whom became pregnant and also attempting to intimidate a witness to stop them from testifying. Carroll had been transferred to the Central California Women’s Facility (CCWF) in Chowchilla in 2021 when SB132 became law.
Ironically, the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) used him as proof that trans-identifying men were not a threat to the safety of biological female inmates. While the case is still ongoing, he was eventually transferred to the Salinas Valley State Prison male facility under California’s Three Strikes Law.
Female inmate Krystal Gonzalez, who was sexually trafficked at 13, was also allegedly repeatedly raped by a transgender detainee and reportedly faced a disciplinary action when she reported the incident.
Seemingly, SB311 could fail to pass as California Democrats prioritize the convenience of transgender individuals over the safety of biological women.
