Justin Trudeau Promises to House Trans Prisoners Based on Gender Identity

First World woke bae, Canadian Prime Minister, and future Obama BFF Justin Trudeau continues to be one of the few bright lights when it comes to world leaders. While Europe and the U.S. continue to drift ever rightward, our neighbor to the north is still trying to drag the Western Hemisphere into the 21st century.

At a town hall on Thursday, Trudeau responded to a trans advocate's questions about Canada's current policy, which they referred to as "torture."

"I will make sure we look at it and we address it and we do right in recognizing that trans rights are human rights and we need to make sure we are defending everyone's dignity and rights in every way we can," Trudeau said, admitting he was unaware of the issue.

Days earlier, Correctional Service Canada released its new policy on trans inmates, which mirrors its old policy and disregards gender identity:

Pre-operative male to female offenders with gender dysphoria will be held in men's institutions and pre-operative female to male offenders with gender dysphoria will be held in women's institutions.

Canada's Correctional Investigator Ivan Zinger called the policy "disappointing" and at odds with the government's commitment to equal rights.

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Though that policy is right in line with the U.S., where trans people are more likely to be imprisoned than the rest of the population. The majority of trans women are housed with male inmates, where they are incredibly vulnerable to violence and sexual assault. Prisons also often deny trans inmates access to hormone therapy.

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Speaking of Chelsea Manning, with only a few days left in office, President Obama reportedly has the Wikileaks whistleblower on his commutation shortlist.