By Victoria Marshall
The Washington Stand
A transgender-identifying male serving a life sentence in Washington is complaining that his transfer to a men’s prison is cruel and unusual punishment.
In March, 35-year-old Amber FayeFox Kim, previously known as Bryan Kim, was transferred from Washington Corrections Center for Women (WCCW) to a men’s prison after being caught having sex with a female inmate. Kim contends the sexual encounter was consensual. But the state Department of Corrections (DOC) concluded that “Due to the nature of the culture inside American prisons, where incarcerated individuals are not able to come forward with information that may lead to others getting into trouble without fear of reprisal, there [are] no sound practices for determining actual consensual sex.”
Kim was then transferred per a DOC policy which states transgender inmates placed in “gender-affirming facilities” may be transferred “due to documented objective safety and security concerns.”
On Tuesday, Kim filed a court petition through the American Civil Liberties Union of Washington arguing the transfer to a men’s prison is cruel punishment. Kim is currently in solitary confinement and told The Seattle Times, “We are being denied our humanity in a systemic way. … Being in isolation like this is soul-sucking.”
Kim was originally housed at a men’s prison but was transferred to WCCW in February 2021. This was after the state DOC adopted a gender-inclusion policy that allows male convicts admittance to female facilities if an administrative panel accepts their gender-dysphoria claims.
The same year Kim was transferred, there were multiple complaints of sexual exploitation of female inmates by transgender-identifying male inmates. The Washington DOC denies these allegations exist. Yet a former corrections officer for WCCW told National Review that some male felons take advantage of the state’s transgender transfer policy so they can be housed with women.
Kim is serving a life sentence for murdering parents Richard and Terri Kim in 2006.
Originally published at The Washington Stand!
