I received this on a local list and was asked to spread the word:
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http://www.theeagle.com/stories/090905/local_20050909047.phpTransgendered evacuee arrested
Charged with using women's shower at Reed Arena shelter
By LAURA HENSLEY
Eagle Staff Writer
A 20-year-old transgendered Hurricane Katrina evacuee remained in the Brazos County Jail on Thursday, five days after being arrested for showering inside a women's bathroom at Reed Arena.
Arpollo Vicks of New Orleans and her 16-year-old cousin were arrested Sunday night for criminal trespass after Texas A&M University Police noticed the two exiting a women's shower facility at the shelter. The two were born male but live as women and consider themselves female, Vicks said Thursday in an interview from the jail.
They are the only people who have been arrested at the local shelters since the first one opened Aug. 31, shelter officials said.
According to police who were providing security at the Reed Arena
shelter, a woman complained Sunday night that several males were inside the women's shower facility.
Corps of Cadets Commandant John Van Alstyne, who is in charge of the shelter, was notified and told police that he earlier had warned Vicks and the teenager not to shower inside the women's facility.
"I know two males went into the women's rest room," Van Alstyne said
Thursday. "It was something we considered inappropriate."
He declined to comment further.
"They had been warned and basically told not to do that," said Elmer
Schneider, chief of the University Police Department. "Did we want to arrest them? No. We were almost forced into it because we had warned them. To me, in this case, it was something of their own choosing."
Vicks - who said she never was warned not to shower in the women's bathroom - remained in isolation at the Brazos County Jail on Thursday evening. She was being held on $6,000 bond for criminal trespass, a Class B misdemeanor.
Vicks' juvenile cousin since has been released from custody, returned to Reed Arena and reunited with her 18-year-old sister, who also is staying there.
"I don't think I should be here," Vicks said during a brief collect
telephone call from the jail. "It's foolish. This is nothing to be in
jail for. I live like this. This is my life.
"Right now, I'm just scared. I've been here since Sunday, and they
haven't told me anything. I've never been in jail before. I'm just not
used to this."
According to Vicks, who said she worked as a substitute teacher at a middle school in New Orleans, she had never before encountered a problem when using women's bathrooms. She said she wanted to shower in the women's facility because she felt safer and more comfortable doing so.
Vicks said she did not request special accommodations, but that she did speak to a female volunteer and explained her situation.
Police and shelter officials said they were unaware of any such
conversation.
Ann Robison, executive director of a Houston organization that is
providing support and housing for gay, lesbian, bisexual and
transgendered hurricane evacuees, said special accommodations for Vicks and her cousin should have been provided by the shelter.
"They should've made provisions for her upfront," Robison said. "She
considers herself female."
Robison said her organization, the Montrose Counseling Center, doesn't know of any other transgendered hurricane evacuees in similar situations being arrested at shelters. She said she did help one transgendered person at a Conroe shelter relocate after volunteers informed her that the person was being harassed by other evacuees.
"This makes me real sad," Robison said. "People criminalize gender identity issues because they are afraid of it or don't understand it. We understand that people have some fears about it. But it is just sad, and it angers me."
Contacted Thursday night, Robison said she planned to advise the Human Rights Campaign, a gay, lesbian and transgendered civil rights organization in Washington, D.C., that could help Vicks post bail and provide legal assistance. She also said she would try to link Vicks and her cousin with safe housing in Houston.
Vicks sounded frustrated Thursday, recounting how she literally had to swim out of her apartment last week and sleep on an Interstate 10 bridge in New Orleans when the city was flooded by the hurricane. With no money and no way of reaching family, she said she didn't know how she was going to get out of jail.
"I'm just living one day at a time and trying to get this over with,"
she said. "I've never been through so much in my life."
Laura Hensley's e-mail address is laura.hensley@theeagle.com.
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As many people have heard, a transgender woman, Arpollo Vicks was arrested last Sunday, September 4 at an evacuation shelter in Bryan, Texas for taking a shower. I have spoken with Arpollo upon her release from jail and I am very pleased to say that she is in very safe temporary housing with an ally in Bryan.
This has been an incredibly heartbreaking situation. I am glad that Arpollo is safe, although, because of this injustice she has become separated from her 18 year old sister and 16 year old niece who evacuated from New Orleans with her and who were her only family members whose whereabouts were known to her. She believes that her mother is in a shelter in Houston and that her sister and niece may have headed toward there. We will be working with her around
housing for the next few days and in evacuating yet another town for safer ground. I have spoken with Ethan St. Pierre of Trans FM and he believes they have the funds to help relocate Arpollo and her family.
Basically, last Sunday Arpollo and her niece, who is also transgender
according to news reports, showered at the Texas A&M University-run evacuee shelter and were arrested by the University Police who claim that another evacuee was concerned about the women showering. The minor niece was released to Arpollo's sister, but Arpollo has been held in isolation for five days at the Brazos County Detention Center.
Upon learning of this last evening and this morning, a group of local, state and national advocates sprung into action and pressured the University to drop all charges and accelerate Arpollo's release. These included some wonderful faculty at A&M, local trans people and allies, some fabulous folks in Houston including the Montrose Counseling Center, Phyllis Frye and her law firm. Also the Lesbian and Gay Lobby of Texas (LGRL) did amazing work as did Lambda Legal, HRC, the Task Force and the Sylvia Rivera Law Center on New York.
I, and many others, have spoken plainly with University administrators about this situation and will be communicating further over the next few weeks.
Later today, NCTE, along with the Task Force and Lambda Legal will be
releasing a guide on making evacuation shelters safe and welcoming for transgender evacuees. This document has been in the works for several days, but Arpollo's case shows the urgent need for it. We will be getting it into the hands of the major shelter managers such as the Red Cross and Salvation Army as well as trans support groups and the LGBT community centers in relevant geographic areas.
Finally, I ask that if anyone hears of situations like Arpollo's, you bring it to our attention immediately and we will activate a very swift response. No one, let alone someone who has just lost so much, should have to face the injustice that Arpollo has just gone through.
If you would like to know other ways you can help, I refer you to the
following as places to donate money and to find links to other helping opportunities:
http://www.transfm.org/ Ethan St. Pierre's network that is raising money to relocate trans people.
http://www.nyac.org-/ The National Youth Advocacy Coalition in conjunction with many other organizations including NCTE are raising money to help LGBT youth impacted by the disaster.
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