Part of Iowa's Unresolved Trauma Article Series:
The Records Mismatch
They Planned to Let Me Go—Then the Officer Learned I Was Transgender.

By Sondra Wilson | Updated July 22, 2026

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May 22, 2006 was particularly rough. At 24 years old, I had only recently began undergoing hormone replacement therapy. I didn't want to wait until I was 60, and then look back in life with regret, so I did something I perceived as harmless: I sought medical care.

But others didn't see it that way. Many — including most of my immediate family members — believed it was wrong. Raised in a Christian household, what I was doing was considered extremely taboo, perverted, and sinful. I do not blame my parents: they were raised how they were raised. That was the era. However, without a doubt, it was evident that those who spoke toward me with contempt, felt a deep moral challenge to themselves. Most were trained, from a young age, to know good from bad — right from wrong. To many, this was a simple moral test from God, and by condemning me, it seemed like they were passing a test that, in my opinion, caused much more harm than good.

But there was no conversation. Within the first 6-8 months of undergoing hormone therapy, not one day went by that I wasn't openly harassed, ridiculed, or physically attacked.

I was young though, and around this time — at age 24 — I began to pass. That is, most people could not tell I was transgender by looking at me. That should help provide some context for what is to follow. 

I do not wish to tell the entire story here, because I love my Dad very much, and I am very grateful we have healed from the hardship our family has endured surrounding this topic. However, what I will say is that this particular day was especially rough, because he and I were not at that point, and it was evident that his worldview aligned with many others at the time. Following a particularly harsh exchange that left me in tears, I walked to a local Kum & Go in west Ames, and began playing my guitar off toward the side of the building.

It was perhaps 20 minutes or a half hour later, that two officers approached, and asked for my ID. I did not have one at the time because I had been robbed at this point, while homeless, several times over. But I told them my name, and gave my social security number. 

Soon after, Officer Blake Marshall returned, his demeaner changed. He informed me that my name came up as Alexander under my social security number, and I responded by telling him the truth: that I am transgender, and am in the process of medically transitioning. 

His demeanor then changed, and he and his partner, who I later learned was Officer Nathan Rivera, arrested me, and I was brought into Officer Rivera's police car.

Page in making. please check back soon. 

It would not be until 2022, after returning to IowaOfficer Marshall arrested me and wrote into his police report that I was a male, omitting this highly-relevant information and instead writing a series of false statements with regard to my conduct. 

I know I was arrested for this reason because when his partner, Officer Nathan Rivera, drove me to the jail in Nevada, IA, he told me that they never arrest people for playing music — that they were just going to ask me to leave.  He said that his partner decided to arrest me after he saw my records didn’t match up. Although Marshall wrote that I was refusing to leave after being asked, I don’t remember that happening at all — I just remember them approaching, and him asking me for my ID. This made sense to me, because Officer Marshall’s demeanor had changed after I told him I was transgender.

When I was being booked inside the Nevada (Iowa) jail, a woman jailer told me, “You need to do something about this.”  She accused Officer Marshall of “being a jerk” to anyone with an “alternative lifestyle”.  She also told me he was the women’s hockey coach.

The following morning, from jail, I plead NOT GUILTY and my trial was set for June 7 then rescheduled to July 21.  Although in the docket I signed my name as “Alexander”, this was because that was the only record the state was acknowledging.  I felt intimidated because of how I was being treated.

Next Article: 2006: Arrested for using the Restroom in Ames: Same Officer. Same Prejudice.