On this episode of The Last Mile Radio, host Tara Trask brings listeners inside the prison walls of San Quentin on their Trans Day Of Visibility. In this episode she holds personal conversations with three individuals who represent very different, but deeply interconnected, trans experiences: a student, a correctional officer, and a cultural trailblazer. Against the backdrop of a prison system that often erases trans identities, this episode amplifies voices that are too often left out of the conversation.

“For most of my life, I tried to be what everyone else expected—a son, a husband, a father. But the truth is, I was hiding who I really was. When I finally stopped living to make other people happy and started caring about myself, that’s when everything changed. That’s when I started truly living.” – Jamie Acosta

Tara first sits down with Jamie Acosta, a graduate of The Last Mile’s coding program and the first person at San Quentin to receive gender-affirming surgery. Jamie shares her journey growing up in a conservative Mexican household, hiding her identity to survive, and finally finding the courage to live as her authentic self while incarcerated. Next, correctional officer Mandi Hauwert reflects on the challenges of transitioning while working in a correctional facility. She discusses her years of depression, the fear of coming out in a rigid institutional environment, and how she now brings empathy and humanity to a job often defined by control. Finally, actor and musician Daniel Sea—known for playing the first recurring transmasculine character on television—offers a powerful historical lens on queer and trans resistance, and speaks candidly about the dangers and necessity of visibility in today’s political climate.

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