Ashley Diamond
{{Short description|Transgender activist}}
{{Infobox person
| name = Ashley Diamond
| image =
| caption =
| birth_date = {{birth year and age|1978}}
| birth_place =
| occupation = Civil rights activist
| years_active = 2015-present
| alma_mater =
| website = {{URL|https://web.archive.org/web/20161020174215/http://www.ashleydiamondofficial.com/}}
}}
Ashley Diamond (born 1978) is an American transgender civil-rights activist, singer, and actress. She is known for suing the Georgia Department of Corrections twice for incarcerating her with male inmates and refusing to provide her with medical treatment she had been receiving since she was a teenager.
Diamond was imprisoned in 2012 for a nonviolent offense and held in a men's facility.{{cite web|url=http://www.lgbtinstitute.org/news/2015/9/1/ashley-diamond-transgender-georgia-inmate-released-early-from-prison|publisher=lgbtinstitute.org|title=Ashley Diamond, Transgender Georgia inmate, released early from prison — LGBT Institute|date=September 2015 |accessdate=2016-10-20|archive-date=2016-10-20|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161020173955/http://www.lgbtinstitute.org/news/2015/9/1/ashley-diamond-transgender-georgia-inmate-released-early-from-prison|url-status=live}}{{Cite web|title=Ashley Diamond|url=https://ccrjustice.org/node/8756|access-date=2020-11-24|website=Center for Constitutional Rights|language=en|archive-date=2021-04-04|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210404181333/https://ccrjustice.org/ashley-diamond|url-status=live}} While in prison she was denied medically necessary hormones she had been taking for over seventeen years, was beaten and sexually assaulted by inmates with no help from prison guards.{{cite news|last1=Sontag|first1=Deborah|date=September 24, 2015|title=Ashley Diamond, Transgender Inmate, Is Out of Prison but Far From Free|work=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2015/09/25/us/ashley-diamond-transgender-inmate-out-of-prison-but-not-fully-free.html|url-status=live|url-access=limited|access-date=October 20, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210525072113/https://www.nytimes.com/2015/09/25/us/ashley-diamond-transgender-inmate-out-of-prison-but-not-fully-free.html|archive-date=May 25, 2021}}{{cite web|url=https://www.splcenter.org/news/2015/08/31/transgender-inmate-ashley-diamond-released-georgia-prison-after-pressure-splc-lawsuit|publisher=splcenter.org|title=Transgender inmate Ashley Diamond released from Georgia prison after pressure from SPLC lawsuit | Southern Poverty Law Center|accessdate=2016-10-20|archive-date=2016-10-20|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161020174001/https://www.splcenter.org/news/2015/08/31/transgender-inmate-ashley-diamond-released-georgia-prison-after-pressure-splc-lawsuit|url-status=live}}{{cite news|last=Brekke|first=Kira|date=September 10, 2015|title=Freed Trans Woman Ashley Diamond On Life Behind Bars In Men's Prison|work=The Huffington Post|url=https://www.huffpost.com/entry/ashley-diamond-released_n_55f08a31e4b093be51bd4332|url-status=live|access-date=October 20, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170222062601/http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/ashley-diamond-released_us_55f08a31e4b093be51bd4332|archive-date=February 22, 2017}} From inside the prison, Diamond partnered with the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) to file a lawsuit against the Georgia Department of Corrections, settling for an undisclosed amount.{{cite news|last=Abeni|first=Cleis|date=February 12, 2016|title=Trans Woman Ashley Diamond Reaches Settlement with Ga. Dept. of Corrections|url=https://www.advocate.com/transgender/2016/2/12/watch-trans-woman-ashley-diamond-reaches-settlement-georgia-department|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161020173608/http://www.advocate.com/transgender/2016/2/12/watch-trans-woman-ashley-diamond-reaches-settlement-georgia-department|archive-date=October 20, 2016|access-date=October 20, 2016|work=The Advocate}}{{cite web|url=http://www.glaad.org/blog/transgender-inmate-ashley-diamond-reaches-settlement-georgias-department-corrections|publisher=glaad.org|title=Transgender inmate Ashley Diamond reaches settlement with Georgia's Department of Corrections | GLAAD|accessdate=2016-10-20|date=2016-02-12|archive-date=2016-06-09|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160609225440/http://www.glaad.org/blog/transgender-inmate-ashley-diamond-reaches-settlement-georgias-department-corrections|url-status=live}}
In 2015, Diamond was released on parole and in 2016 received a settlement in the lawsuit, and the Georgia Department of Corrections changed its medical treatment policy for transgender prisoners.{{Cite news|last=Dewan|first=Shaila|date=November 23, 2020|title=Back in Prison, Transgender Woman Faces an Old Horror, Sexual Assault|work=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2020/11/23/us/ashley-diamond-transgender-prison.html|url-status=live|url-access=limited|access-date=November 24, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201123215059/https://www.nytimes.com/2020/11/23/us/ashley-diamond-transgender-prison.html|archive-date=November 23, 2020}}{{Cite news|last=Jones|first=Zoe Christen|date=November 24, 2020|title=Transgender inmate sues Georgia prison officials over alleged assaults|publisher=CBS News|url=https://www.cbsnews.com/news/ashley-diamond-transgender-inmate-georgia-prison-lawsuit-assaults/|url-status=live|access-date=November 24, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201124124327/https://www.cbsnews.com/news/ashley-diamond-transgender-inmate-georgia-prison-lawsuit-assaults/|archive-date=November 24, 2020}} The US Department of Justice became involved, saying that prisons must treat hormone therapy as they would any other medical condition.{{Cite news|last=Aspegren|first=Elinor|date=November 23, 2020|title=Black transgender woman sues Georgia Department of Corrections for second time, alleging constant 'fear of sexual assault'|website=USA Today|url=https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2020/11/23/transgender-woman-ashley-diamond-georgia-department-corrections/6399385002/|url-status=live|access-date=November 24, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201123233214/https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2020/11/23/transgender-woman-ashley-diamond-georgia-department-corrections/6399385002/|archive-date=November 23, 2020}} Beth Litrell of the SPLC attributed the change to Diamond's lawsuit. In 2019, Georgia adopted a new policy governing the treatment of transgender and intersex prisoners that according to The New York Times was intended to address prisoner safety issues, including assessing placement decisions using input on the prisoner's own views of their safety, and to reassess placements after sexual assault.
In October 2019, Diamond was again arrested and imprisoned on parole violation charges. She was again placed in a men's facility. According to Diamond, by November 2020, she had been sexually assaulted fourteen times by other inmates and prison staff and had been denied hormone treatment therapy. On November 23, 2020, Diamond, the Center for Constitutional Rights, and the SPLC filed a federal civil rights lawsuit; the U.S. Department of Justice again intervened in the case. On August 12, 2022, Diamond was released to serve the remainder of her sentence on parole.{{Cite web |title=Transgender Woman Suing Georgia Department of Corrections a Second Time for Sexual Assaults in Men's Prisons Is Finally Released |url=https://ccrjustice.org/node/9697 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230710150401/https://ccrjustice.org/home/press-center/press-releases/transgender-woman-suing-georgia-department-corrections-second-time |archive-date=2023-07-10 |access-date=2023-06-19 |website=Center for Constitutional Rights |language=en}} On January 20, 2023, shortly before the trial was set to start, Diamond moved to voluntarily dismiss the suit in order to focus on her recovery.{{Cite web |date=2023-01-20 |title=Transgender woman drops lawsuit against Georgia prison officials |url=https://www.wsbtv.com/news/local/transgender-woman-drops-suit-against-georgia-prison-officials/KSQU65MWNVH6HHRXQYUFPJUEWA/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230710150548/https://www.wsbtv.com/news/local/transgender-woman-drops-suit-against-georgia-prison-officials/KSQU65MWNVH6HHRXQYUFPJUEWA/ |archive-date=2023-07-10 |access-date=2023-06-19 |website=WSB-TV Channel 2 - Atlanta |language=en}}{{Cite web |title=Ashley Diamond to Forego Trial to Focus on Healing |url=https://ccrjustice.org/node/9809 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230710150746/https://ccrjustice.org/home/press-center/press-releases/ashley-diamond-forego-trial-focus-healing |archive-date=2023-07-10 |access-date=2023-06-19 |website=Center for Constitutional Rights |language=en}}
Early life, work, and imprisonment
Diamond was born in 1978 to a large Southern Baptist family and raised in Rome, Georgia.{{cite news|author=TEGNA|title=Transgender woman: I was raped, mistreated in Georgia prison|publisher=WXIA-TV|url=http://www.11alive.com/news/local/transgender-woman-i-was-raped-mistreated-in-georgia-prison/133300956|access-date=October 20, 2016}}{{dead link|date=June 2021}} She has lived as a transgender woman since she was a teenager, starting hormone therapy at age 17. She moved to Atlanta and began performing in cabarets doing Whitney Houston impersonations.
Diamond was originally imprisoned in 2012 on burglary charges, for which she was sentenced to ten years. She was also charged with attempted escape during an arrest. She was held at Valdosta State Prison and Coastal State Prison.{{Cite news|last=Riquelmy|first=Alan|date=September 14, 2014|title=Rome transgender woman files suit against state DOC from prison|website=Rome News-Tribune|url=https://www.northwestgeorgianews.com/rome/news/local/rome-transgender-woman-files-suit-against-state-doc-from-prison/article_cfbf6a1a-3bd4-11e4-b581-001a4bcf6878.html|url-status=live|access-date=November 24, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210404181337/https://www.northwestgeorgianews.com/rome/news/local/rome-transgender-woman-files-suit-against-state-doc-from-prison/article_cfbf6a1a-3bd4-11e4-b581-001a4bcf6878.html|archive-date=April 4, 2021}}
After her 2015 release, as part of her eight-year parole, she was required to return to Rome, where she had a 4:30 pm curfew and was unable to find work. She became occasionally homeless and was arrested on a parole violation and returned to prison in October 2019. She was first held in the Georgia Diagnostic and Classification Prison and then moved to Coastal State Prison.
=Television=
| class="wikitable sortable" |
| Year
! Title ! Role ! class="unsortable" | Notes |
|---|
| 2016
|Herself |
References
{{Reflist}}
External links
- {{IMDb name|7892872}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Diamond, Ashley}}
Category:African-American LGBTQ people
Category:LGBTQ people from Georgia (U.S. state)
Category:American LGBTQ rights activists
Category:American transgender actresses
Category:Transgender rights activists