In her Life Inside essay, Lexie Handlang writes:

>“Leave all your hopes and dreams behind because you belong to me.” That’s what a guard said to me when I entered Missouri’s Fulton Reception and Diagnostic Center in 2014.

>As a trans woman in a maximum security men’s prison, I didn’t have any hopes and dreams. What I had were feelings of fear and isolation. ...

>Back then, there was no help for someone like me. Unless you were on hormone replacement therapy (HRT) before incarceration, you couldn’t get it. Even with prior use, it was hard to get. There was no access to gender-affirming clothing. And there was no such thing as a Transgender Committee to make sure you were doing OK as a trans person in the Department of Corrections.

>There was no help. No recognition. Just a lonesome feeling.

>A 2018 [lawsuit](https://lambdalegal.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/hicklin_mo_20180522_order.pdf) that Lambda Legal and an incarcerated trans woman named Jessica Hicklin won against the Missouri Department of Corrections changed everything.

[Continue reading](https://www.themarshallproject.org/2026/03/27/trans-missouri-prisons-pride-history?utm_source=reddit&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=tmp-reddit) (no paywall/ads) tw: abuse

What It's Like to Navigate Missouri Men's Prisons as a Trans Woman