Next month, the Los Angeles Police Department will begin using a separate section of its department for transgender inmates, the first department in the country to do so.

Trans* women who previously stayed in the same place as men were especially vulnerable to violence, and Capt. Dave Lindsay of the LAPD says he hopes the new system will create a safer environment.

In the separate section, trans* people will be able to receive “male and female clothing,” medical treatment and hormones. They’ll be held there until they are arraigned and then transferred to county jails, which do not have separate sections for trans* people.

I am honestly not sure how I feel about this. It’s awesome that trans* inmates will have access to necessary medicines and be in safer environments, but it’s also only for a couple of days, after which the repercussions could be even worse. What say you?