Critics Charge ACLU Ignores Plight of Women Prisoners
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Instead, they back inmates born male locked up with female. BY ALICE GIORDANO
s the american civil lib- erties Union (ACLU) heralds its fi ght against the Trump administration, champions
transgender rights, and — as one of its latest press releases touted — celebrates Arab American Heritage Month, critics say it is ignoring civil rights violations right in its own backyard. The number of cases of female pris-
oners being raped by male inmates claiming to be transgender is escalat- ing across the United States. But the ACLU is not helping the
women, says Amie Ichikawa, founder of Woman II Woman, a support group for incarcerated women. Instead, they are representing the men — most of whom, she points out, have long sat in male prisons before suddenly deciding they were women. At the Washington Corrections Cen-
ter for Women at Purdy, one female inmate broke her hand beating on the door in eff orts to escape an assault. She asked to be placed in soli-
tary confi nement rather than spend another night confi ned with her new male cellmate. Sharon Byrne, executive director of
Women’s Liberation Front, calls the men “trans fakers,” with some even openly admitting they are exploiting prison policies of housing inmates by gender identity over biological gender in order to get close to women. Even more disturbing is that many of the men are convicted sex off enders. According to recent statistics
released by the Federal Bureau of Pris- ons, 48% of biologically male transgen- der inmates are convicted sex off end-
ers; most of their victims are women. Add to that statistic men who have
been convicted of other extremely vio- lent crimes, says Jennifer Goodrich, co-director of New England Women’s Solidarity. One of them, Maine inmate Andrew
Balcer, used a hunting knife to stab to death his parents and family dog. He won a transfer to a female prison after adopting the name “Andrea.” Goodrich points out that
Balcer is more than 6 feet tall and a “good 250 pounds.” “Imagine being trapped in an 8-by-8 cell with him,” she said. When female inmates asked Ichika-
same cold shoulder from the entire House Democratic Caucus — many of them self-professed champions of wom- en’s rights — including New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. Ichikawa said California Gov. Gavin
Newsom has also ignored the women’s request for help. The paragon of First Amendment rights has even sought court orders to block Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests about con- victed male sex off enders being housed with women. “It’s the absolute upside-
BALCER
wa if she had called the ACLU yet, she said she didn’t know how to tell them the organization was not only on the men’s side, but they had labeled the women “transphobic” and “hateful.” Ichikawa said even more heart-
breaking was the response she got from Rep. Maxine Waters when she asked the California Democrat to step in on behalf of the female inmates. Waters responded with an email,
Ichikawa said, sent by a legislative aide, vowing “to stand tall” with trans- gender prisoners. Byrne, a former U.N. delegate for the Status of Women, said she got the
“Trans fakers” exploit prison policies of housing inmates by gender identity over biological gender in order to get close to women, says activist Sharon Byrne.
down of what anyone would expect,” said Byrne.
Conservative groups like the Inde-
pendent Women’s Forum (IWF) have taken up the cause that was expected to be the ACLU’s. The group, which is best known for advocating against men in women’s sports, produces a documentary series, Cruel & Unusual Punishment: The Male Takeover of Female Prisons, to expose the practice. Episodes highlight an exec- utive order President Donald Trump issued within his fi rst days in offi ce. Called “Defending Women From
Gender Ideology Extremism and Restoring Biological Truth to the Fed- eral Government,” the order directs all government agencies including prisons to adopt policies based on biology and not gender identity. Byrne says the ACLU has found
a way around the order by using the federal Prison Rape Elimination Act (PREA) as a shield for male inmates who claim to identify as women. The federal legislation was adopted
in 2003 under President George W. Bush to address sexual assaults in prisons. The ACLU failed to respond to sev-
eral calls and emails from Newsmax to explain their position.
JULY 2025 | NEWSMAX 23
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