Black Transgender Man Sentenced 20 Years For Defending Himself Against Rapist
Ky Peterson, a black man from Georgia, was arrested in 2011 for defending himself against an attacker. His friends and family desperately seek his freedom calling on Governer Nathan Deal to pardon him. Injustices based on racial and gender bias are not uncommon, but Ky wants to change that by using his story for future activism.
The Injustice
In October of 2011, Ky Peterson was on his way home from the convenience store when a stranger knocked him over the back of the head with a blunt object. When he awoke, a man whom previously made sexual advances toward him outside of the store had proceeded to rape him. Ultimately, he was able to get a hold of the rapist's gun and end the man's life. He panicked and hid the body because of his belief that he would be the subject of injustice based on his skin color and gender identity.
Police confrontation then led to his arrest. He was taken to the hospital for injuries relating to his assault along with a rape kit. His test came back with conclusive evidence that he had been raped, yet his public defender advised him that he could not claim self-defense because "Number One, you're African-American."
Ky is only able to interact with his friends and family through video chatting at Pulaski State Prison.
After a year in holding, he was charged with Involuntary Manslaughter which carries a maximum sentence of 10 years, yet Ky was unknowingly offered a plea bargain of 20 years by the court. With a gap in understanding of Georgia's legal system, he was intimidated into accepting the deal and was moved to Pulaski State Prison, a women's institution, to serve his time.
After four years, he has suffered multiple acts of humiliation at the hands of prison staff and officers. "At Pulaski State Prison, where Ky has been incarcerated for 4 years, 10% of the population (nearly 1500 people) identifies as male or gender non-conforming. The Warden at Pulaski has taken a hard-line stance against gender non-conformity, instructing guards to only use female pronouns, creating ad-hoc rules, for example, about hair length. Currently, DRs, or Disciplinary Reports, are given to people for expressing preferred gender presentation, including hair shorter than 2 inches. In one case an inmate at Pulaski was charged with assault for giving a friend a haircut." In state institutions, this dehumanizing treatment is all too common for transgender inmates to endure. His supporters are calling out the racially influenced mismanagement of his case in hopes of initiating a pardon from Georgia Governer Nathan Deal so that Ky can be released.
The community supporting Ky has several resources on their website that supporters can visit to help his cause for freedom including a fundraiser for after care treatment, petition for the Governor, and updates on Ky's welfare.