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Local Advocacy Groups Criticize County's Handling Of Trans Inmate's Death

   The Cuyahoga County Jail seen from the street below.
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   A collection of Northeast Ohio transgender and LGBT advocacy groups on
   Friday discussed the death of Lea Rayshon Daye, a Black transgender
   woman, in the Cuyahoga County Jail.

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   the release.

   Advocates for trans rights argued Daye’s death is an example of
   inhumane and inequitable conditions in the jail during the press
   conference. The conference was a collaborative effort with the LGBT
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   Coalition for the Homeless and additional nonprofit advocacy groups.

   Discrimination against trans individuals, particularly Black trans
   women, is prevalent in local courts and law enforcement, said Devinity
   Jones, Trans Wellness Program Coordinator with the LGBT Community
   Center of Greater Cleveland.

   “We cannot sit here and say, ‘This is my community, I’m protecting my
   community, I’m doing the best for my community,’ in these positions of
   power, and not include transgender people that are in this community,”
   Jones said.

   Transgender inmates are frequently mistreated, misgendered and denied
   necessary health care, Jones said. Jones has spent time in the Cuyahoga
   County Jail herself and she said the conditions are in desperate need
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   “The victims of the Cuyahoga County Jail should not be forgotten, and
   Black trans lives should not be erased,” Bunch said.

   The groups are calling for an impartial, third-party investigation into
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   Cleveland.

   Housing trans women in all-male prison facilities contributes to abuse
   and further mistreatment, Turan said, as well as mental health
   difficulties already prevalent in the population.
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   assault.”

   Trans and LGBTQ individuals face disproportionate challenges with
   finding safe and secure housing, said Chris Knestrick with the
   Northeast Ohio Coalition for the Homeless.