Transgender women inmates sue Colorado, claiming harassment, violence

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Transgender women inmates in Colorado claim in a class-action lawsuit that they are targets of physical violence and sexual harassment because they are routinely housed with men.

About 170 transgender inmates are represented in the class with seven women named as plaintiffs in the lawsuit filed Friday in state court in Denver. Gov. Jered Polis and Colorado Department of Corrections officials are named as defendants.

The lawsuit alleges that because the women are held with men without safeguards, they are subjected to abuse and discrimination in violation of the state’s Anti-Discrimination Act.

“The lawsuit claims that the CDOC has discriminated against transgender women solely on the basis of their gender identity and that these women have been subjected to unsafe situations, including severe sexual harassment, physical violence, and rape,” the Transgender Law Center, which filed the suit on behalf of the inmates, said in a summary.

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Article URL: https://www.nbcnews.com/feature/nbc-out/transgender-women-inmates-sue-colorado-claiming-harassment-violence-n1090086