US — New York, New York. A woman was threatened with violence by a male resident of a women’s homeless shelter and when this was reported to the shelter director by another resident, she was told ‘be nice’.
The incident took place last week at one of two women’s shelters run by the Institute for Community Living (ICL). A six-foot masculine-looking man, one of three trans-identified males accommodated at the shelter, drew stares from the female residents as he entered the cafeteria at breakfast time.
One woman resident said: “This person presents like a typical masculine man and walked into the cafeteria during breakfast. Of course the women were looking, trying to figure out if he was staff or security. When he got in line for breakfast, it became clear that he was a resident, and everyone was stunned. The elder who he threatened couldn’t stop staring and he started cursing at her. A few women stood beside and in front of the elder when he started in on her.
“I’m so angry, I could cry,” said the resident. “The women here are dealing with all kinds of trauma. There are women who came here from abusive relationships, prisons, psych hospitals, women who were street homeless, prostitutes, women who lost housing to fires, who simply couldn’t afford the rent.
“We as women have to share rooms, cafeterias, and shower with men who threaten us with physical harm,” said the woman, who fears retaliation for speaking out.
She said when the incident was reported, the shelter director said she had no control over who is sent by the Department of Homeless Services (DHS) and the residents should “be nice.” The majority of the staff at the shelter are also women.
A spokesperson for the Institute for Community Living, Sam Miller, said ICL follows DHS policy of allowing trans-identified males to live in women’s shelters.
He said: “The safety of our clients is our top priority at our shelters. We have no record of any client being threatened at any of our women’s shelters on February 11, but we will follow up with staff to make sure no client feels threatened and will take disciplinary action if we find that we did not respond to an incident properly. We fully support the policy of the New York City Department of Homeless Services to place people in shelters based on their self-identified gender.”
Action
- To voice your views on male residents in shelters for women, contact the following:
DHS Main Number
Phone: (212) 361-8000
Office of the Commissioner
Address: 33 Beaver Street, 17th Floor, New York, NY 10004
Phone: (212) 361-8000
Email: Send an email to the Administrator
It’s time trans folks used their own resources to get their own shelters.
I suppose everyone in these shelters gets checked that their need is genuine. Entry must be based on what someone IS, not what they ‘identify’ as. They must surely have a background story which led to them being accepted. If it’s a women-only shelter, the same criterion applies as when asking about the person’s circumstances. They must actually BE a woman, not ‘identify’ as such, in the same way as they must actually BE in need, not ‘identify’ as in need. Self-identity for ANY service is a ridiculous policy.
Everyone knows that a man ‘self-identifying’ as a woman is a liar. His application should be rejected before we even need to work out his motives.
Trans people need their own shelters. Traumatized women should not have to be “nice” to any man for any reason, especially abusive men.
I live in NYC and I just left a message telling this organization that I will lobby to close their facility if they continue to cater to violent trans women!
Make that call!