“The Emperor Has No Clothes”
When my client, Mozzy Clark, recounted the abuse she endured at the hands of a man she shared a cell with at the Washington Corrections Center for Women, I was left thinking of the phrase “The Emperor has no clothes.” These words ponged in my mind as Mozzy discussed the policies that allow male convicts who claim to be transgender to be housed in women’s prisons, often without surgery or cross-gender hormones.
Under these policies, men can be convicted of heinous and violent crimes, such as rape, torture, and murder, and still be allowed to serve their time in a women’s prison. All it takes is for them to simply declare, “I identify as a woman.” This allows them access to vulnerable women who have no choice or say in the matter. The most unbelievable part is that the supposed gatekeepers in our society, including legislators, judges, corrections officers, and civil rights organizations, are complicit in crafting and forcing these policies on the public and the women most affected by them.
In a recently filed lawsuit, I detailed how Mozzy was locked in a cell with a 6-foot-4, fully intact man who had previously been convicted of domestic abuse and child molestation. Being alone behind bars, without her family or support system, was punishment enough. But the trauma of being forced into a cell and sexually assaulted by a man with a long history of child molestation and extreme violence is a pain she wouldn’t wish on anyone.
As I learned from Mozzy, many of these men who have requested to be transferred to women’s prisons have already committed violence against female inmates. I am now working with Mozzy to ensure that no woman suffers the same fate, that no woman’s safety is so egregiously compromised by a system that is charged with protecting her.
The fairytale “The Emperor’s New Clothes” can be ascribed not only to the power of the metaphor but to the visceral reaction it invokes: disgust, incredulity, and revelation. It is a reminder that, like the emperor parading naked in front of onlookers, the radical gender ideology that has spread across our nation is being celebrated by true believers and swept under the rug by progressives too timid to speak out.
As we continue to ignore the warnings of women like Mozzy, it is at our civilization’s peril. It is up to us to recognize the emperor’s lack of clothes and protect the safety and dignity of our most vulnerable populations.