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Joshua Copley

Prof. Flores

Eng 1201

14 November 2021

Criminal Justice System’s Effect on LGBTQ+

The Criminal Justice System has impacted many different groups in society, especially

people who identify as LGBTQ+. The Criminal Justice System is a pretty big system with many

different moving pieces. That means it has effects on many different things that are part of our

society and many different people as well. The Criminal Justice System is supposed to keep our

communities safe by making sure justice is served to people that make it unsafe but

unfortunately after doing some of the research I have found that queer people are unfairly

targeted and persecuted in numbers that outweigh people who don't identify as LGBTQ+.

Gay youth have been hit the hardest by the Criminal Justice System. You can see this by

looking at numerous studies. Overall though you can see the effects it has on the entire gay

community. People who identify as queer have been prosecuted specifically for just being in that

community which has made a stigma about police and the whole Criminal Justice System in the

LGBTQ+ community. Due to this stigma, it can cause both sides to not trust each other which

has created a divide between the two.

Attacks towards the LGBTQ+ community have been seen for many many years. That

also means people who identify as queer have been documented for centuries. For example, you

can see many different homosexual relationships in ancient Greece. It wasn't a so-called “bad

thing” to be part of that community during those times. Even ancient Isreal has evidence of there

being same-sex love even though the bible prohibited it. It's hard to prohibit something if it didn't
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already exist. Most indigenous communities were accepting of LGBTQ+ people and treated

those people with respect. When European colonizers started coming to these communities that's

when LGBTQ+ started getting targeted. The first case of a person being put to death in North

America for being a homosexual was in 1566. The Spanish colonizers had put to death a

Frenchman in the area we now call Florida. We can see the biggest cause for this viewpoint was

religion. Religion was at the head of the movement to stop LGBTQ+ love in early history. Love

wasn't the only thing being scrutinized. The way people identified themselves was also being

looked at. Once again European colonizers were trying to control people. They brought rules that

made it illegal for men to dress like women and women to dress like men. This didn't stop

women. They wanted to stand up for themselves and for the sexism they were experiencing at

the time. They dressed like men in order to get the things that men could and women couldn't.

They used clothes to blend in and have better access to things. It was very easy to blend in and

look like the opposite gender due to how different clothing was and grooming was between the

two genders. This allowed people who wanted to look like the opposite sex because that is who

they felt like they were to easily blend in and live the life they wanted to live. Most people who

were trans didn't actually get caught until after their death because of all of this.

More recent history still shows the struggle LGBTQ+ communities had all over the

world. In the United States, there were very few advocacy groups for queer people until after

World War II. Before the war, LGBTQ+ communities in urban settings were still flourishing just

not vocally. Greenwich and Harlem were two examples of these types of communities. Gay

culture was starting to be introduced to people who were straight due to speakies that were being

used during the prohibition times. These secret clubs were places where gay people could meet

others like them. World War II disrupted these but that opened a different door. Formally
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isolated gay men and women were able to meet as soilders, war workers, and voulnteers. They

were posted worldwide which meant these people were finally able to meet others like them still

secretly though. The war allowed queer people to start finally being seen which brought many

good things but also bad things. For example queer people were being tolerated and allowed to

fight in the war. But this also meant queer people were being sentenced to death camps in Nazi

Germany. This was when the fight for LGBTQ+ rights finally started but there was still a long

road ahead. Homosexuailty wasnt removed from the list of illnesses from the American

Psychiatric Association until 1973. Before this the courts would look at homosexual love as sick

and diseased. This is where we can clearly see the discrimation of the gay community in the

court system.

In my opinion, youth are affected negatively the most in the Criminal Justice System.

Especially queer youth. Researchers estimate around 20% of youth in the juvenile justice system

identify as queer. This is compared to the 4-6% of youth in the general population that identify as

LGBTQ+. This is due to the fact that these youth have a much harder time early in life compared

to the average youth.

Many of the factors that put LGBTQ youth at higher risk of school discipline may also

work to increase their risk of contact with the justice system. Experiencing school

discipline...may also increase an LGBTQ student’s risk of contact with the justice

system…indirect mechanisms thought to increase contact with the justice system when

students are not in school... If students are truant for an excessive number of days, such as

due to feeling unsafe, schools may refer cases to juvenile and family courts. (GLSEN)

The abuse from family and the abandonment as well can contribute to the early introduction into

the Criminal Justice System. In order for LGBTQ+ youth to survive in these situations they must
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turn to crime and sometimes to violence if they were forced to go live on the streets. Due to this

they might have to turn to drug sales, theft, and even survival sex in order to just survive.

(Caiazza)

This doesn't just stop when LGBTQ+ people go into adulthood. The likelihood of an

queer adult getting arrested is 2.25

times higher than straight

individuals. With lesbian women

being 4 times more likely to be

arrested compared to straight

women. This trend also continues

when you look at the data for queer

adults in the prison system. These

individuals are much more likely to

get longer sentences than a straight individual. (Jones)

Prison life for LGBTQ+ individuals is inhumane. Queer individuals are already at risk for

being treated horribly by the other inmates just because they are gay but the prison life risks don't

stop there. Prison guards put gay people in solitary confinement in order to “keep them safe”

even though multiple studies show how harmful solitary confinement can be for any individual.

The likelihood of Lesbian, Gay, and Bisexual men and women are 10 times more likely to be

sexually victimized by other inmates and 2.6 times more likely to be sexually victimized by staff.

These numbers show how hard the gay community have it in the prison system. (Jones)

Parole and probation is another key area where you can see the overrepresentation of

LGBTQ+ people. Men on parole or probation are two times more likely to be gay or bisexual
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then to not be either. This is the same for women. According to the Prison Policy Initiative, there

is 3.4% of women in the general population who identify as lesbian or bisexual. 16.4 % of the

women on probation identify as lesbian or bisexual and 17.6 % of women on parole identify as

lesbian or bisexual. These numbers clearly see an overrepresentation of LGBTQ+ people in the

parole and probation system. (Jones)

Trans people have much less data on them when it comes to the Criminal Justice System.

They are represented even less when it comes to research. But according to the numbers above, I

think it is safe to assume that they also are overrepresented in every aspect of the Criminal

Justice System. Trans people are much less likely to ask for help from the police and are much

more likely to be targeted by the police. These numbers I've listed above don't even take into

consideration the race of these LGBTQ+ individuals. Studies show queer black individuals have

an even harder time when it

comes to the Criminal Justice

System due to the already

strong stigma against black

people from the police.

Fixing these issues is

a very difficult task. The

biggest problem is that there

are so many different aspects

to look at in order to fully fix

this issue. First you could

start by looking at our education system in the United States. LGBTQ+ people are very poorly
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represented in the currencluim which means these young people don't have any education about

the things they need to know. Training for educators would also be a key first step to fixing this

problem. Counselors don't have the right training to deal with problems these kids might face.

Their communities can also be a prime reason that there is no help for these kids. It's difficult for

school districts to make up rules that would protect these kids if most of the community is

against the LGBTQ+.

After you look at the education system, you then must look at resources outside of the

school system for kids in major hardships. Remember these kids are not 100% accepted

everywhere. When / if these kids come out to their parents / guardians they could not be accepted

which might put them onto the streets. Surviving on the streets is a very hard task to do, it is

especially hard when you are trying not to commit crimes. These kids have to sometimes commit

crimes in order to achieve their basic human needs like hunger and shelter. Reserving money for

resources such as shelters and counselors could be essential to helping prevent these kids from

having to turn to crime in order to survive.

Fixing the prison system for queer people is a difficult task. It is very difficult to make a

prison better for them. This is why it might be better to focus more on prevention and other

methods of serving time in order to keep not just LGBTQ+ people but everyone else out of the

prison system. Focusing on diversion programs in which people could agree to do to stay out of

prison. When it comes to gay people on the street, decriminalizing sex work would be another

step towards prevention. Sex work is a major contribution into adding people in the prison

system.

People have often been against queer people for centuries. American politics have shown

us that it can use people to divide a whole country. It is a tool in many politicians' arsenal to get
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their supporters more involved and / or more angry. We use human beings as political chess

pieces in order to please each political party. This is one of the many reasons that trying to fix

these issues is important.

The LGBTQ+ community has many hardships when it comes to their history and modern

times. As of right now, the Criminal Justice System is still attacking this community by not

addressing the issues that are currently being caused by them. They are being targeted in the

court, trial, and prison aspects of the Criminal Justice System. This is all stemming from queer

youth who are not getting the proper help to make sure they stay out of a system that is out

against them. Until these issues are addressed there won't be a fair representation of LGBTQ+

people in these systems.

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Works Cited

Berry, Bonnie. Appearance Bias and Crime. Cambridge University Press, 2019.

Braunstein, Michael D. “The Five Stages of LGBTQ Discrimination and Its Effects on Mass

Incarceration.” University of Miami Race & Social Justice Law Review, vol. 7, June

2017, p. 1. EBSCOhost, search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?

direct=true&db=edsglt&AN=edsgcl.513995125&site=eds-live.

Brettschneider, Marla, et al. LGBTQ POLITICS: A Critical Reader. New York University Press,

2017.

Caiazza, Tom. “Release: U.S. Juvenile and Criminal Justice Systems Endanger the Lives and

Futures of LGBTQ Youth.” Center for American Progress, 23 Aug. 2016,

https://www.americanprogress.org/press/release/2016/08/23/142905/release-u-s-juvenile-

and-criminal-justice-systems-endanger-the-lives-and-futures-of-lgbtq-youth/.

Morris, B. J. (n.d.). History of lesbian, gay, bisexual and Transgender Social Movements.

American Psychological Association. Retrieved November 2, 2021, from

https://www.apa.org/pi/lgbt/resources/history.
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GLSEN. “Educational Exclusion: Drop out, Push out, & School-to-Prison Pipeline.” GLSEN,

2016, https://www.glsen.org/research/educational-exclusion-drop-out-push-out-school-

prison-pipeline.

Jones, Alexi. (2021, March 2). Visualizing the unequal treatment of LGBTQ people in the

criminal

justice system. Prison Policy Initiative. Retrieved November 2, 2021, from

https://www.prisonpolicy.org/blog/2021/03/02/lgbtq/.

Movement Advancement Project, https://www.lgbtmap.org/.

Nadal, Kevin L., et al. “Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Queer People's Perceptions of the Criminal

Justice System: Implications for Social Services.” Journal of Gay & Lesbian Social

Services, vol. 27, no. 4, 2015, pp. 457–481.,

https://doi.org/10.1080/10538720.2015.1085116.