HOMOPHOBIC HETEROSEXISM

Transgender influencer Nikita Dragun placed in men’s jail after arrest: ‘Extremely disturbing and dangerous

Meredith Clark - Thursday


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Transgender beauty influencer Nikita Dragun was released from a Miami jail on Wednesday after she was temporarily held in a men’s unit.

Dragun, 26, was arrested at The Goodtime Hotel in Miami Beach on Monday after she was charged with misdemeanor disorderly conduct and felony battery of a law enforcement officer, according to an arrest affidavit obtained by USA TODAY.

Hotel security staff were reportedly called to Dragun’s hotel room where loud music was playing. Police records show the transgender YouTuber was “causing a disturbance for a long period of time” and was walking around the hotel pool “unclothed”. After she was told to stop her behavior by police officers and hotel staff, Dragun allegedly threw a water bottle at a security guard and a police officer.

Following the arrest, Dragun was placed into police custody and transferred to a men’s unit of the Turner Guilford Knight Correctional Center in Miami-Dade County. She was released from custody without bail less than two days later.

“The situation with Nikita, who is legally female, being placed in a men’s unit of a Florida jail is extremely disturbing and dangerous,” said Jack Ketsoyan, a representative for Dragun, in a statement to NPR.

“This decision made by the Miami-Dade County corrections department directly violates their protocol, which mandates that transgender inmates are classified and housed based on safety needs and gender identity,” the statement read. “Nikita has been released and is now safe.”

Dragun reportedly asked a Miami-Dade judge during her hearing whether she had to remain in the men’s unit. In a video from the hearing, which has circulated on social media, the beauty influencer appears over video call and is seen asking the judge, “Do I have to stay here in the men’s unit still?”

The judge replied that she doesn’t “make the rules” and redirected the request to the correctional facility to provide a separate accommodation for Dragun.

Nikita Dragun has 3.54m subscribers on YouTube and 9m followers on Instagram, where she regularly posts about beauty and makeup. In 2015, Dragun came out as transgender in a YouTube video titled, “I Am TRANSGENDER”.

The Independent has contacted Nikita Dragun’s representatives for comment.