Internet sensation Nikita Dragun was arrested in Florida this past week. 

Nikita Nguyen (AKA Nikita Dragun) is a transgender beauty Youtuber who has been out as trans since she was a teenager. The police were called to her hotel room after reports of her causing  disturbance at the hotel pool area. She was arrested at the Good Time Hotel in Miami, FL for pouring water onto multiple hotel security guards police officers, which were felony charges

Nguyen is open with the world about her gender identity and has shared stories of her past on the internet. Though she is best known for her presence on Youtube and Tik Tok, she has been featured on The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills and the Hype House drama series over the years. As well as producing her own makeup line, she has won both a Streamy award and a Shorty award for her videos. 

When she arrived at Miami-Dade County’s Turner Guilford Knight Correctional Center, she was placed in a men’s unit of the jail. Nguyen is a legally female transgender woman, and when asked if she could be moved to a women’s unit, she reported being neglected. After posting a $5000 bond, she was released from custody without bail. 

“The situation with Nikita, who is legally female, being placed in a men’s unit of a Florida jail is extremely disturbing and dangerous,” Nguyen’s publicist Jack Ketsoyan stated. 

Officials from the Correctional Center have denied these allegations, saying that she never even made it past booking, and therefore was never placed in a men’s jail at all. They claim that she was placed in a holding cell alone and was escorted out by an LGBTQ officer. 

The connection between Florida’s “Dont Say Gay” law and this incident with the mistreatment of a trans inmate could be connected. There is said to be a transgender committee that determines each inmates individual housing assigment in an attempt to protect trans inmates. If this is true, how was this mistake able to be made? Especially with medical papers stating Nguyen’s permanent identity change. The state of Florida also believes that denying a trans inmate the materials needed to transition violates the 8th amendment, and so it is required that medical materials are provided by the prison center. 

The case has angered fans and trans allies everywhere on social media. The actions of the Correctional Center completely disregards the protocols put in place by the state to protect trans people. The question here is whether or not the guards dealing with Nikita had any personal bias against her celebrity status or gender identity.