Before you begin reading, any information in this article is strictly meant to inform the public, and should not be used to harass this inmate or any member of the transgender community. The inmate of discussion is Jami Naturalite, a transgender inmate in Michigan, charged with extortion and delivery/production of narcotics. He wrote a letter to the board asking if he could begin receiving hormonal treatments while incarcerated. Michigan ended up passing that law for their prisoners, stating that "everyone deserves to feel safe." Here's how I see it.
Dear Jami,
My name is Adria. I am a 17-year-old female born and raised in the lovely state of Michigan and I recently came across an article titled "Michigan transgender inmate to receive taxpayer-funded hormone therapy" from popular news channel WXYZ.
I received my first car as a 16th birthday present, I have never been homeless, I have always had food in my stomach, and being a white female living comfortably in the upper-middle class in America, I have never faced any type of social scrutiny or injustice. With all of that being said, when I turned 16 and was gifted that car, I was then expected to get a job, which I did.
I started out making $8.75 working full time the summer following my road test. When it came time for me to go back to high school, I began to work part time and attend school full time, as most kids my age do. I played violin in two ensembles in high school, was a member of National Honors Society, was President of the Interact Club, participated in Soroptimist Club, received two Youth Leadership awards from Rotary International, and a few other things here and there on top of going to school full time and working that part time job. In other words, I was working my ass off, and I continue to now.
None of this information has been relevant until now. You should work as hard as you can to get to where you want to be. Everyone should have to struggle a little, that's how you build character and stay humble. But you, Jami, didn't want to take that route. Instead, you committed some type of crime and got locked up for both sentences you were tried for.
Somewhere in your lifetime, you decided you no longer liked the person you were born as and decided to change that. Not being comfortable in your own skin sucks and no one should have to feel that way, so all the power to you. What I'm NOT okay with, is you receiving your hormones in prison for no cost to you. Why do you get to be charged with extortion and delivering/producing narcotics and still think you deserve to have anything other than your basic rights for your sentencing period? Why do you get unnecessary hormones that cost nearly $50 a treatment (which is once a month), special room and board perks and a better life in prison than folks that have lived productive and clean lives on the outside and still can barely afford to feed themselves?
On average, the State of Michigan takes around $25 (give or take a few dollars) out of every paycheck that is deposited into my account because I am a working resident of this state. According to the House, around 70% of the working class' taxes are deposited into the "General Fund," which is where all of our money goes that isn't already dedicated to another purpose. The General Fund supports things like public schools, secondary education, roads/construction, medicaid, public services/areas like parks, and most importantly, our local prison/jail systems. This means a whopping $17.50 is deposited into the GF from every paycheck of mine. Do the math, and around 21% of the GF money goes towards correctional facilities ($3.68). I would have to be paid 17 times before I could afford for you to have one treatment.
Now obviously, my 17-year-old self and my tax money have an insignificant impact on the GF and other tax areas, but when you look at the big picture, more money is spent on correctional facilities than schooling assistance (both elementary and post-secondary), public transportation, and public assistance combined. In America, everyone deserves their basic rights, but why are we spending more funding on people that have had their chance and blew it than those who are actively trying to make a better live for themselves and/or their children?
With all of that being said; Jami, I hope you serve your time and come out a better person for it, I hope you find everything you're looking for in life, and I hope you use your experience to educate the public, instead of being a statistic. Michigan; I hope you wake up and remember that inmates shouldn't get to be put on a pedestal and spoon-fed.
Sincerely,
Adria
References:
http://www.kff.org/other/state-indicator/distribut...
https://www.rapsheets.org/michigan/doc-prisoner/NA...
