Windy City Media Group Frontpage News

THE VOICE OF CHICAGO'S GAY, LESBIAN, BI, TRANS AND QUEER COMMUNITY SINCE 1985

home search facebook twitter join
Gay News Sponsor Windy City Times 2023-12-13
DOWNLOAD ISSUE
Donate

Sponsor
Sponsor
Sponsor

  WINDY CITY TIMES

GUEST COLUMN Black and Pink comes to Chicago
by Joey Mogul
2017-07-26

This article shared 727 times since Wed Jul 26, 2017
facebook twitter google +1 reddit email


This August, Chicago is poised to make queer history.

From August 4-6, the Windy City will host one of the largest gatherings of formerly incarcerated LGBTQ people and their allies. They will be coming together for a national gathering sponsored by Black and Pink, a national organization with over 12,000 members behind and beyond bars.

Although in recent years, many in LGBTQ communities have celebrated the U.S. Supreme Court striking down sodomy laws in 2003 and upholding a universal right to marry in 2015, queer and trans people continue to suffer from systemic oppression and discrimination in the criminal legal system. Queer and transgender people, particularly those of color, continue to be disproportionately profiled, targeted, prosecuted and convicted, contending with anti-queer bias and entrenched transphobia at every stage of the process.

Even though there are too few studies examining the dynamics that fuel punishment and incarceration of queer and trans people, there is a wealth of anecdotal evidence and some empirical evidence that demonstrates that queer and trans people, particularly queer and trans people of color, are disproportionately ensnared in the criminal legal system.

According to the National Inmate Survey conducted in 2011-2012, 7.9% of individuals in state and federal prisons identified as lesbian, gay or bisexual, as did 7.1% of individuals in city and county jails. This is double the percentage of all American adults who identify as LGBT, according to a Gallup Poll ( 3.8% ).

A Lambda Legal survey of LGBTQ people found that 5% percent of respondents reported having spent time in jail or prison, a rate that is markedly higher than the nearly 3% of the U.S. adult population who are under some form of correctional supervision ( jail, prison, probation, or parole ) at any point in time.

The numbers are even more stark where trans folks are concerned.

According to the National Transgender Discrimination Survey, 16% of trans respondents indicated they had spent time in jail or prison, with higher rates for transgender women ( 21% ) and lower rates for transgender men ( 10% ).

Once incarcerated, queer and trans folks are the prime targets of sexual violence, physical abuse, harassment and pernicious discrimination by prison officials, guards and others who are incarcerated.

Black and Pink conducted the largest ever survey of LGBTQ prisoners, and released the results in 2015 in a report entitled Coming Out of Concrete Closets. According to the report:

— LGBTQ people surveyed were six times more likely to be sexually assaulted than the general prison population;

— 85% of those surveyed have been punished with solitary confinement at some time during their imprisonment. Approximately half spent two or more years in such severe isolation;

— The vast majority of respondents experienced discrimination and verbal harassment by prison staff, and more than a third were physically assaulted by prison staff.

The unfortunate reality is that too many of our queer and trans community members are suffering alone in silence behind bars.

All prisoners are forcibly removed from their families and communities, isolating them from necessary human relationships and support. Once torn from their families and community, many prisoners have little or no contact with anyone on the outside. This is particularly true for LGBTQ people, many of whom may already have more precarious relationships, particularly if they have been rejected by their families due to homophobia and transphobia. Without personal or financial means of support, many LGTBQ people are isolated in prison, which is a recipe for exploitation, harm and prolonged incarceration.

Thankfully, Black and Pink engages in advocacy, education, direct service and organizing on behalf of incarcerated queer and trans people. As part of this work, Black and Pink works to find and connect people to become pen pals with queer and trans folks on the inside.

The mere act of becoming a pen pal, and writing to someone on the inside, is a radical, transformative act that can break down the walls of silence and isolation. Communicating by letter creates a meaningful relationship and emotional support. What's more, the mere act of receiving a letter in prison can have a profound ripple effect.

As Jason Lydon, the founder of Black and Pink explains, mail in prisons is often distributed in communal settings by guards. When an incarcerated person's name is read at mail call, it lets guards and prisoners alike know that this person has someone on the outside who is contact with them and cares for them. That alone can decrease the level of extra punishment and suffering a queer or trans person may face

Come join Black & Pink by becoming a penpal and begin a correspondence that could change lives, yours included.

Find out more about the work of Black and Pink by coming to a Community Celebration kicking off the national gathering on Friday, Aug. 4, 2017 from 6-10 p.m. at 1901 W. Carroll Ave.

If you can't join us on Friday night, donations in any amount help grow the work and ensure that more and more of our family behind bars has support and community: secure.actblue.com/contribute/page/blackandpink .

No matter which option you pick, you will be joining one of the biggest remaining fronts in the fight for queer liberation.

Joey Mogul is a partner at the People's Law Office and co-author of Queer ( In )Justice: the Criminalization of LGBT People in the United States ( Beacon Press 2011 ). Debbie Southorn is a Wage Peace Program Associate at American Friends Service Committee and member of Black and Pink.


This article shared 727 times since Wed Jul 26, 2017
facebook twitter google +1 reddit email

Out and Aging
Presented By

  ARTICLES YOU MIGHT LIKE

Gay News

Nex Benedict's autopsy report released
2024-03-27
The full autopsy report for Nex Benedict (he/they)—a 16-year-old transgender and Indigenous student from Oklahoma's Owasso High School who died in February a day after a school fight—has been released. The Oklahoma Office of the Chie ...


Gay News

Thailand parliament passes landmark marriage bill
2024-03-27
On March 27, Thailand's parliament approved a marriage-equality bill by an overwhelmingly large margin—a landmark step that moves one of Asia's most liberal countries closer to legalizing same-sex unions, media ...


Gay News

Wyoming is latest state to ban gender-affirming care for minors
2024-03-24
On March 22, Wyoming became the latest state to prohibit gender-affirming care for minors, The Hill noted. In doing so, it joined 23 other states that passed laws restricting or banning the treatment. Legislators in both ...


Gay News

Family of 2004 murder victim holds event in Lake View; reward announced
2024-03-24
The year 2004, for the family and friends of Lake View resident Kevin Clewer, will forever be marked by tragedy. On March 24 of that year, Clewer, 31, was found in his apartment at 3444 N. Elaine Pl.; he was the ...


Gay News

No charges filed in Nex Benedict fight; campaigns call for Walters' removal
2024-03-22
In Oklahoma, Tulsa County District Attorney Stephen Kunzweiler announced that no charges will be filed in connection with the fight that happened the day before transgender, nonbinary high school student Nex Benedict died by suicide, NBC ...


Gay News

NATIONAL Va. marriage bill, AARP, online counseling, Idaho items, late activist
2024-03-21
Republican Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin signed bills protecting same-sex marriages at a state level, surprising some, WRIC reported. The bills—passed out of both chambers along mostly party lines—will require clerks ...


Gay News

WORLD Leaked messages, Panama action, author dies at 32, Japan court, out athletes
2024-03-15
Hundreds of messages from an internal chat board for an international group of transgender health professionals were leaked in a report and framed as revealing serious health risks associated with gender-affirming care, including cancer, according to ...


Gay News

NATIONAL Missouri measure, HIV/AIDS Awareness Day, judge, Texas schools
2024-03-15
In Missouri, a newly proposed law could charge teachers and counselors with a felony and require them to register as sex offenders if they're found guilty of supporting transgender students who are socially transitioning, CNN noted. ...


Gay News

College athletes sue NCAA over transgender policies
2024-03-15
Former Kentucky swimmer Riley Gaines was among a group of college athletes who filed a lawsuit against the NCAA on March 14, accusing it of violating their Title IX rights by allowing trans swimmer Lia Thomas ...


Gay News

LGBTQ+ people attacked by mobs in Greece
2024-03-14
Just weeks after a landmark law granted same-sex couples in Greece the right to marry, nearly 200 people dressed in black chased a transgender couple through the town square in Thessaloniki, the country's "second city" and ...


Gay News

Florida settles 'Don't Say Gay' lawsuit
2024-03-11
On March 11, the state of Florida settled a multi-year lawsuit against the so-called "Don't Say Gay" law, which limits how LGBTQ+ topics can be discussed and presented in schools, The Hill reported. The settlement agreement ...


Gay News

"X" gender marker now available on Illinois driver's licenses and state ID cards
2024-03-11
After several years of preparation, the Illinois Secretary of State's office is has been making the X gender designation available for non-binary residents and others not utilizing the M or F designations, since the beginning of ...


Gay News

WORLD Israeli reservist, man detained, Ghana bill, medic denied honor
2024-03-08
Hanania Ben-Shimon—the gay Israel Defense Forces reservist who was wounded as he killed one of the terrorists in the attack at the A-Za'ayem checkpoint near Ma'ale Adumim recently—published a post in which he pleaded that his ...


Gay News

Court blocks Texas attorney general's demand for PFLAG data
2024-03-01
From a press release: AUSTIN, Texas—Travis County District Court Judge Maria Cantú Hexel on March 1 blocked the latest effort by the Texas Attorney General's Office to persecute Texas families with transgender youth, temporarily haltin ...


Gay News

WORLD Canadian politics, Australian murders, Finnish study, 'Anatomy'
2024-03-01
Canadian conservatives are divided over an anti-trans policy that Alberta Premier Danielle Smith handed down in her province, The Guardian reported. The policy includes a ban on hormonal treatment, puberty ...


 


Copyright © 2024 Windy City Media Group. All rights reserved.
Reprint by permission only. PDFs for back issues are downloadable from
our online archives.

Return postage must accompany all manuscripts, drawings, and
photographs submitted if they are to be returned, and no
responsibility may be assumed for unsolicited materials.

All rights to letters, art and photos sent to Nightspots
(Chicago GLBT Nightlife News) and Windy City Times (a Chicago
Gay and Lesbian News and Feature Publication) will be treated
as unconditionally assigned for publication purposes and as such,
subject to editing and comment. The opinions expressed by the
columnists, cartoonists, letter writers, and commentators are
their own and do not necessarily reflect the position of Nightspots
(Chicago GLBT Nightlife News) and Windy City Times (a Chicago Gay,
Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender News and Feature Publication).

The appearance of a name, image or photo of a person or group in
Nightspots (Chicago GLBT Nightlife News) and Windy City Times
(a Chicago Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender News and Feature
Publication) does not indicate the sexual orientation of such
individuals or groups. While we encourage readers to support the
advertisers who make this newspaper possible, Nightspots (Chicago
GLBT Nightlife News) and Windy City Times (a Chicago Gay, Lesbian
News and Feature Publication) cannot accept responsibility for
any advertising claims or promotions.

 
 

TRENDINGBREAKINGPHOTOS







Sponsor


 



Donate


About WCMG      Contact Us      Online Front  Page      Windy City  Times      Nightspots
Identity      BLACKlines      En La Vida      Archives      Advanced Search     
Windy City Queercast      Queercast Archives     
Press  Releases      Join WCMG  Email List      Email Blast      Blogs     
Upcoming Events      Todays Events      Ongoing Events      Bar Guide      Community Groups      In Memoriam     
Privacy Policy     

Windy City Media Group publishes Windy City Times,
The Bi-Weekly Voice of the Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Trans Community.
5315 N. Clark St. #192, Chicago, IL 60640-2113 • PH (773) 871-7610 • FAX (773) 871-7609.