Newspapers / Lambda (Carolina Gay and … / Jan. 1, 1979, edition 1 / Page 4
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■ill; =55® J L fi I t I i| i f' ; S' ill i .1 ! 4i Page A/LAIBDA JAIT. ^79 Gay Voices From Prison/cont. from page 3 TJomen prisoners do not face the threat of rape, murder and stabbings, according .to Assata Shakur, formerly a prisoner at Pdker^s Island in Hew York, Tjho has written a copyrighted article in which she says, "Basically the women are not looking for sex. They are looking for love, for concern and companionship. For relief from the oven-jhelming sense of isolation and solitude that pervades each of us." "About 80 percent of the prison population engage in some form of homosexual relationship. Almost all follow negative, stereotypic male/female role models," Shalcur said. She describes women filled with self-hatred and little involvement with feminism or the gay liberation movement. "Ifen prisoners constantly refer to each other as brother. Women prisoners rarely refer to each other as sister. Instead ’bitch* and 'whore’ are the common terras of reference. !Jomen, however, are much kinder to each other than men, and any form of violence other than a fist fight is virtually unkno^^n." 'Platform Shoes and Angora Sweaters...' One of the most detailed accounts of gay men in prison can be found in Susan Sheehan's A PPJLSONER AND A PRISON (Houghton Nlfflin, 1973), an account of Green Haven, in Beekraan, N.Y. — the newest of the state's five maximum-security prisons. WBiile some 20 percent of the men there practice homosexuality, Sheehan reports that there are only a handful of "queens" at Green Haven at any one time — "men with feminine characteristics they do their best to enhance." The queens have been exceptionally innovative? "All prisoners must wear the state-issued green prison pants and are forbidden to alter them; the queens wear altered pants, nevertheless — tapered and tight-fitting. Instead of the state- issued black shoes and green shirts (the wearing of which is optional), they wear platform shoes and angora svjeaters. Makeup is contraband, ,but the queens improvise, using Coricidin to redden their lips and black shoe polish around their eyes in lieu of mascara." "The queens usually lead charmed lives at Green Haven, v;ith many men vying and paying dearly for their favors, although they are occasionally abused. One queen's 'husband' asked her to 'produce' for four of his friends and stabbed her when she declined. "A number of men who are heterosexual on the street practice homosexuality in prison, some by choice, some not. The involuntary homosexuals tend to be good- looking young men, X7ho arc usually forced into becoming jailhouse 'punks' by older men serving long sentences." However, "most men at Green Haven take care of their sexual needs by masturbating," Sheehan writes. FOR P.ENT Young, attractive male prisoner. $25 per week. (Payment can be made w/ canteen purchased items). Satisfaction guaranteed. Contact John Jones #3333 Cell #213. At Raleigh's maximum-security Central Prison, the subject of queens brought a smile to the face of guard Odum C. Christenbury, who said a group of gay prisoners recently dressed up as best they could and made it clear they were ready for sex. They weren't in physical danger by admitting their preference, he said. Christenbury also said he didn't see a danger in prisoners receiving gay literature, which is available to state Inmates through the malls. But Norman Carlson, director of the Federal Bureau of Prisons, imposed a ban on federal prisoners’ access to gay printed materials in December, 1976. (Please turn to page 6)
Lambda (Carolina Gay and Lesbian Association, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill)
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