A California judge has ruled that a transgender-identifying biological man convicted of rape must be referred to by “she/her” pronouns during his trial because he “deserves dignity.”
Inmate Tremaine Carroll is facing charges for allegedly impregnating one female inmate and raping two others at the Central California Women’s Facility in Chowchilla. Carroll was transferred to the women’s prison under California law, which allows inmates to be housed according to their self-identified gender.
Carroll was sentenced to the women’s facility despite there being any physiological or medical evaluations to support his claim of being transgender, a report from the Daily Wire noted. Regardless, a Madera country judge has now ordered that everyone, even the victims of Carroll’s actions, use his preferred pronouns and refer to him as a woman.
The order has been met with widespread criticism. Madera County District Attorney Sally Moreno described Carroll’s claim of being female as an insult to his alleged victims.
“After his first cellmate became pregnant and was moved to Los Angeles, two other cellmates of his had complained that he had raped them, so we have filed rape charges against this inmate,” Moreno said.
Moreno added that Carroll’s transgender claim further complicates the case because “it’s confusing to the jury,” explaining that, “In California, rape is a crime that has to be accomplished by a man.”
Supervising Deputy District Attorney Eric Dutemple echoed these concerns, highlighting the potential emotional toll on the victims.
“It’s just absolutely insane that a victim would have to get on the stand and police their pronoun usage when trying to recite one of the scariest times of their lives,” Dutemple said.
