After allegedly walking around naked and assaulting an officer at The Goodtime Hotel in Miami, popular makeup influencer Nikita Dragun has been arrested. She was arrested for felony battery on a law enforcement officer, misdemeanor disorderly conduct and battery, according to Miami’s Local 10 News.
Dragun is a transgender woman and has publicly shared her experience on social media. On Dec. 28, 2015, Dragun released a YouTube video titled “I Am TRANSGENDER” where she described growing up being raised as a male and “constantly feeling that something wasn’t right.” She continued to explain that the years to come would hold a “world of change,” and she could not have been more right. She launched her makeup brand, Dragun Beauty, in March 2019, and Forbes reported that all of the products in her first launch sold out in 24 hours.
Although undoubtedly successful in the makeup world, Dragun is also well known for being embroiled in internet drama. In 2022, Netflix released the eight-part reality series “Hype House,” described by Dragun in the first episode as “a fraternity filled with people who have millions of followers and dollars at their fingertips, with high school drama and … a ring light.” The show has faced scrutiny, being described as giving “talentless, boring, unoriginal, privileged people a show” by a Change.org petition advocating for its cancellation that has garnered over 23,000 signatures.
Following her arrest, Dragun was held in a men’s unit of a Miami corrections facility, according to her publicist, Jack Ketsoyan, who described the situation as “extremely disturbing and dangerous.” He continued to say that Dragun has been released and is now safe.
Her placement in a men’s prison unit is a problem that reaches far beyond Youtube drama. It’s not uncommon to dislike influencers such as Dragun, but this situation demonstrates how this kind of treatment does not discriminate, even with celebrities and is unfortunately all too common.
According to the Prison Policy Initiative, LGBTQ+ individuals face much higher rates of arrest, incarceration and community supervision, all while facing unique dangers and amount of inhumane treatment.
Federal data provided through the National Center for Transgender Equality states that transgender people are nearly 10 times more likely to be sexually assaulted in prison than cisgender inmates. In fact, 40% of transgender individuals report sexual assault in prison.
Facilities insisting on housing transgender individuals solely based on their anatomy, regardless of their legal sex or gender identity, perpetuates this abuse. Celebrity status does not discriminate — a video posted by Miami’s Local 10 News shows Dragun appearing in a virtual court, where she asks if she has to remain in a men’s unit, to which the judge responds, “I don’t make the rules up here.”
Being misgendered has a devastating effect on transgender and LGBTQ+ folks. “It’s very minimizing,” said Dee Filecia, Ph.D., a political science and international relations professor. “It’s like a little gut punch every time it happens.”
Filecia continued to describe being placed in a group that does not align with a person’s gender identity, whether in a prison or another setting, as one that causes a person to “become more invisible. You’re in a system that reminds you of what has been shoved down your throat your whole life.”
Violence and discrimination cause harm against LGBTQ+ individuals that is frequently underestimated. According to The Trevor Project, LGBTQ+ youth are four times more likely to attempt to take their own lives than their peers. “It can cause depression,” continued Filecia. “Suicide rates among trans people are through the roof … It can cause people physical harm.”
If transgender people continue to be forced to live in systems that do not align with their gender identity and in societies that do not respect them, the abuse that they face will continue to feed into a cycle of further incarceration and mental health issues. Dragun’s situation is a terrifying thought for many, but it’s not improbable that it will continue to happen to many others. Dragun’s story being the headline of many a TikTok and Snapchat news headline calls the reality of the situation to attention, and amidst this, more awareness for what transgender people go through will be gained.
This is the opinion of Olivia Silvester, a freshman English major from San Diego. Email comments to editor@theloyolan.com. Follow and tweet comments to @LALoyolan on Twitter, and like the Loyolan on Facebook.