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Homosexuality in Prison

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Homosexuality in the American Prison System For many, one’s sexualtity or gender expression has an outwards, tangible and extremely present effect on a person’s life. This is especially true if they identify under an umbrella of sexuality or gender expression that does not conform to or match the overall consensus on “normal sexuality” or majority sexuality. Those under the LGBT umbrella within the prison system have a unique set of challenges they must face compared to their fellow heterosexual or cisgender prison mates. Even further, trans people and individuals find themselves in a unique situation because they are often assigned to a prison based upon their birth sex, but not their gender identity. While homosexual inmates have been found to statistically be already at a higher risk for sexual violence and sexual abuse while in prison, transgender inmates have even higher risks when assigned by their birth sex; a trans woman who had undergone sexual reassignment surgery being placed in a men’s prison, for example, can face an extreme amount of sexual violence compared to if she was, instead, assigned to an all female prison. There is a need for action to be done for LGBT youth, but also inwards by the prison system to improve its rules, standards and practices when dealing with LGBT prisoners and homosexuality in general. To begin, one must look at the state of how lesbian, gay, bisexual and trans inmates hold up against their heterosexual inmates. Due to homosexuality being considered an illegal act, punishable by imprisonment, in over eighty countries in the world currently (Becker 2013), it seems significant to focus on the state of homosexuality in the American prison system. As researchers believe, the amount of same-sex rape and sex abuse that happens between both heterosexual and homosexual prisoners can occur due to many reasons, some being especially psychologically. Some believe homosexual prisoners are bigger targets for heterosexual inmates due to the social ostracization of the homosexual inmate and the sexual deprivation the heterosexual inmate faces within the prison system. As Kirkham states, "Everywhere in the contemporary American prison one friends overwhelming evidence of what has been labeled the pain of heterosexual deprivation. Perhaps this frustration, which attends the figurative castration of prison inmates, is most apparently in the conversation and human of prisoners” (2012). There is a clear and understood treatment of inmates and how this affects them psychologically and sexually; however, between homosexual and heterosexual inmates, these issues manifest differently.
Also, some have stated that a competition also arises between homosecual and heterosexual inmates, especially male prisoners, with the homosexual inmate being seen as allowed to enjoy his or herself due to being around prisoners of the same-sex, while heterosexual prisoners must suffer absence from opposite sex social and physical relations. Kirkham makes note of this, "Certainly, the loss of liberty, the requirement to live in a restricted environment, and absence of goods is frustrating to all prisons; yet, it is the absence of sexual and social relations with women which is most intolerable to the average male prisoner" (2012). In turn, these hostile prison situations and their effects can be seen in reports, like that 2008 Statistical Report of the Department of Justice’s Bureau of Justice Statistics, where it is noted that over 39% of all male homosexual inmates reported being sexually abused.
Additionally, most trans people are not even protected in all fifty states in the US for most hate crime law, as when Law (2011) states, “Transgender people often face severe discrimination, resulting in a lack of resources and opportunities and placing them further at risk for violence. Although 14 states and Washington, DC, have some measure of legal protection for transgender people against discrimination, this legislation has not decreased actual discrimination.” Due to these implications and a lack of a safety net for trans individuals, many are put into prison assignments based on their birth sex and not their recognized gender identity. Not only can this bring the threat of psychological harm and abuse onto the trans person due to social ostracization and alienation, many trans people simply face more violence than their cisgender peers, including sexual violence, sex abuse, in-prison murder by cell mates, and rape. Also, some of the most vulnerable people within the prison system are that of LGBT youth. As an already disenfranchised group of people often due to age, sexual orientation, gender identity and race, many homeless LGBT youth are purposely picked on by police and put into correctional facilities as teenagers or prisons as adults, despite only committing petty crimes. As Wardenski (2005) points out:
Consequently, for many homeless LGBT youth, the only "safe" space they can find is on the streets. Not surprisingly, homelessness exposes LGBT youth to a host of troubling problems, including increased risk of becoming victims of crime and assault, as well as a greater likelihood of committing crimes themselves - like theft, prostitution, and drug dealing - in order to survive. They also face police harassment for minor infractions like loitering, public drinking, or subway turnstile jumping-or for nothing at all. Committing such offenses may usher them back into the same system that failed them the first time. LGBT youth offenders' experiences in the juvenile justice system-when they are arrested, tried in juvenile court, sentenced, and ultimately incarcerated are plagued by intentional and unintentional discrimination because of their real or perceived sexual orientation.

For many of those within the system, they are often also victims of sexual abuse, with other needs being ignored due to their age and their stance on either their sexual orientation or gender identity.
In the same thought, as Wardenski points out, many young trans individuals - who are very likely to resort to prostitution to make money due to transphobic discrimination - will have many of their needs ignored when locked up. For example, if a prisoner is trans and going through hormonal therapy in preparation for gender reassignment surgery, most prisons will not recognize that trans person’s health needs and will stop his or her hormonal therapy. Even as previously mentioned in the 2008 Statistical Report by The Department of Justice, while 39% of homosexual male inmates will report having being sexually abused, nearly one-in-eight young boys in correctional facilities will report having been molested or sexually abused by a staff member - these rates higher amongst young homosexual teenagers. Due to the risks of LGBT youth to be locked up for petty crimes, along with crimes related to drugs and prostitution, there is a distinctive imbalance between the number of LGBT youth, especially those who are homeless, being sent to prisons. Finally, while the overall state of the American prison system has improved as the cultural acknowledgement shifts to recognizing the rights of homosexual and transgender inmates, it is obvious that homosexual, trans, intersex and non-gender conforming individuals are still at higher risk rates for abuse by inmates, but also by staff. These rates not only prove higher than similar rates amongst hetersoexual inmates of similar age, race and gender, but increase as well for even LGBT youth in correctional facilities. With statistics like every two-out-of-five homosexual inmates claiming to be sexually abuse, it seems critical for the prison system in America to re-evaluate not only their procedures for handling LGBT prisoners, but to see what measures are more effective than others. For example, some states and prisons have special units reserved solely for LGBT prisoners to protect them from these kind of issues. While these methods do not prove fully effective, many see them as possible alternatives and methods to stop the institutional sexual violence and abuse going on in prisons towards LGBT people.

References
Becker, John (2012, March 23). "LGBT Rights Are Civil Rights" HuffingtonPost.com.
Kirkham, George L. (2000). Bisexuality in the United States: A Social Science Reader/
Law, Victoria (2011, September 18). "Anti-Transgender Violence: How Hate-Crime Laws
Have Failed" Truth-Out.org.
The Department of Justice (2008). National Former Prisoner Survey, 2008.
(NCJ-237-36-3). http://www.bjs.gov/content/pub/pdf/svrfsp08.pdf
Wardenski, Joseph J. (2005). Journal of Criminal Law and Criminology. Volume 95.
Issue 4, Summer. Article 5. "A Minor Exception: The Impact of Lawrence v. Texas on LGBT Youth". Summer 2005.

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