Transgender woman Avery Edison to fly home after stay in Ontario jails
Avery Edison moved to facility for women after public outcry
A transgender woman from London, England who was initially held in a men's jail after being detained over an apparent immigration issue is to return home Thursday.
Her girlfriend tweets that Avery Edison will take a flight back to the United Kingdom from Toronto's Pearson airport following a decision that was made at an immigration hearing.
Edison had tweeted she was detained by the Canada Border Services Agency after landing in Toronto on Monday, and she suspected it was due to previously overstaying her student visa.
But she said that despite being listed as female on her passport she was sent to Maplehurst Correctional Centre in Milton, Ont. — a jail for males — while awaiting a hearing.
A Maplehurst official confirmed late Tuesday that Edison had been moved to a facility for women.
Her girlfriend Romy Sugden, who lives in Toronto, had earlier tweeted that jail staff told her Edison was sent to the male facility because she has male genitalia.
Edison wrote that the prospect of being sent to a male facility, where she believed she would be "a potential target for sex attacks," was "terrifying."
In a Wednesday tweet Sugden said Edison is being sent home without a travel restriction that would prevent her from visiting Canada in the future.
"Apart from being able to take her home & let the visit proceed as planned, this is the best possible outcome. I'm thrilled," Sugden tweeted.