Ashley Diamond, a Black trans woman who made history for her fierce advocacy while incarcerated, has been freed at long last.
Diamond, who is 44 years old, was released last week and will serve the remainder of her sentence on parole, according to a press release posted to the Free Ashley Diamond campaign's Instagram account. “Although I’m elated to be released, I’m still damaged by what happened to me in prison and I’m worried about the people I left behind,” Diamond said in the press release. “I appreciate everyone who has helped and supported me. In many ways, the real challenges begin now.”
Diamond was first arrested and charged with burglary in 2012 for trying to pawn a saw that had been stolen by her then-boyfriend, for which she received a 12 year sentence, Xtra reports. Although Diamond was released in 2015, she was reincarcerated in 2019 on a technical parole violation; she visited a gender-affirming mental health treatment facility in Florida, outside of the state of Georgia, which she was not allowed to leave. Since her arrest, she has been in and out of Georgia’s carceral system, where she was forced to reside in a men’s prison.
“While she is still subject to that sentence, the parole board’s decision allows her to escape the horror of being a woman in a men’s prison,” the statement reads.
Diamond has sued the Georgia Department of Corrections twice: once for denying her access to hormone therapy and once for refusing to protect her from repeated sexual assault and other forms of neglect. The former case, resolved in 2016, resulted in a landmark decision that allowed dozens of incarcerated trans people in Georgia to start receiving hormones, per the New York Times. The latter case, however, is ongoing, with the Department of Justice filing a statement of interest last April.
As Diamond’s reincarceration shows, just because she’s been freed from prison does not mean that her battle is over. Chinyere Ezie, a senior staff attorney at the Center for Constitutional Rights and a legal representative for Diamond, noted in a press release that, “Ashley is returning to a hostile world where trans people and people with felony convictions have difficulty securing housing and employment because of bias and stigma.”
“Her courageous advocacy has shined a light on the violence and inequity that transgender people face behind bars everywhere,” Ezie said in the release. “Now she must deal with the violence and inequity that transgender people face on the outside as well. We are relieved that Ashley is home so she can begin her long overdue journey toward healing, and we are determined to break this vicious cycle, so our work continues even with Ashley’s release.”
According to the press release, Diamond plans to release a single she recorded while in prison, and is looking for other ways to share her story. “I don’t want the whole experience to have been in vain,” Diamond said. “I plan to keep advocating for Black and trans women and fighting against the violence we face. I hope sharing my story can make a difference to my community.”
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