Justice for Simo Love
From Sept 2023 to March 2024, Coretta Simo Love Monk was held by the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department in a men's prison facility without charge or conviction. Despite being legally identified as a transgender woman and requesting to be housed with women, California law was ignored and she was housed with men leading to pervasive threats of violence, intimidation, sexual harassment, and discrimination.
Incarceration for California Transgender Women
California Prison Rape Elimination Act (PREA)
Requires that authorities consider transgender prisoner gender identity in selecting where to incarcerate them (cdcr.ca.gov)
Abuse in Custody
In 2023, LA County Sheriff's deputy Joseph Benza III physically assaulted trans man Emmett Brock. Multiple deputies and sergeants participated in a cover up. (cnn.com)
Anti-Trans Legislation
In 2025, two CA bills were proposed to take away transgender prisoner rights to be housed according to their gender identity (translegislation.com)
Simo Love
On December 7, 2020 VoyageLA public an article "Rising Stars: Meet Simo Love" (voyagela.com). This article interviewed Simo Love about her musical and artistic journey, starting out with her origins in North Carolina to her current performances in and around Los Angeles.
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This stands in stark contrast to her treatment by the LA County Sheriff's Department in 2023. During a mental health crisis, instead of receiving help Simo Love was taken into custody for a "nuisance violation". She was then incarcerated without formal charge or conviction for over six months. Despite requests to be housed with women, Simo Love was incarcerated with men.
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According to Simo Love's lawsuit against the LA County Sheriff's Department, this violated her rights and led to "ongoing and pervasive foreseeable threats of violence, intimidation, humiliation, sexual harassment and discrimination" (kesq.com). Love was only allowed to shower with men and refrained from showering out of fear for her safety. This escalated until she attempted to drown herself in a toilet.
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This horrible incident is not an isolated one. Despite California laws intended to protect Transgender people, California law enforcement regularly ignore transgender rights, actively put them in harm, and even engage in direct harassment and assault.
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