GAYS DEFEND MARRIAGE

Last week, I invited 20 LGBT organizations to join me in calling for America’s prison systems to place most incarcerated transgender women in women’s prisons as a measure to prevent prison rape. Only one organization wrote me back, the National Center for Transgender Equality. They claimed that fighting prison rape was a “priority” for them (but strangely the issue is nowhere to be found at their Web site) but that it would be “irresponsible” to endorse any proposal I make because they are a “serious policy organization.”

What is irresponsible is the gay community’s focus on symbolic issues like same-sex marriage in California while transgender women could be saved from sexual assault (and a possible death sentence given the rates of HIV in prisons) by a simple administrative change we could bring about through a little hard work.

Lately, I’ve been thinking hard about why conservative Christian organizations like Prison Fellowship and Concerned Women for America work so much harder to fight prison rape than LGBT groups, which should be focused on any issue that disproportionately hurts members of our community. I’m coming to suspect that it’s because the Christian organizations – like me – think gay sex is immoral, and thus we’re horrified that anyone would be forced to participate in such acts against their will. LGBT people, for the most part, think gay sex is terrific, and so while they might not particularly approve of prison rape, I guess they figure – “Hey, at least they get to have gay sex.”

Shockingly, a segment of the gay community not only tolerates but actually eroticizes prison rape. A quick Internet search turned up the following adult titles for gay men (click the links at your own peril):

“Jail Bitch” from Tom “Ropes” McGurk
“Prison Master” from Pacific Sun
“Doin’ Hardtime” by Global Media
“The Prisoner’s Song” by Channel 1 Releasing
“Jail Punk” by Graphik Art
“Cellblock #9” from Prison Connection

These are not films about men who fall in love with their cellmates, and make consensual love to ease the discomfort of their time behind bars. The descriptions of these films, and their cover art (I couldn’t bear to actually watch the movies, not even in the name of “research”) make it clear that part of the thrill of watching these movies is the eroticization of forced sex behind bars. Some Web sites selling adult all-male DVDs actually have an entire “Prison” page where shoppers can click to see all the videos in that specialty.

I can’t believe I have to say this, but normal, psychologically healthy people are not aroused by imagining being forced to have intercourse behind bars. Unless the “sexy” part is fantasizing being the prison rapist, in which case I shudder to think what kind of person gets sexual thrills by that.

Child pornography is worse than prison rape videos, but the difference is in magnitude, not in kind. A more moral LGBT community would boycott video stores and Web sites that sell such trash, and pressure their makers to be more responsible. But I’m not holding my breath.

Now, there certainly are “rape” videos for heterosexual men. But they have faced loud protests from both feminist and non-feminist women. By contrast, I have googled and googled and found no LGBT person to have protested against prison-rape videos, much less one of our organized groups.

Not as bad as gay people who find prison rape erotic – but still problematic – are gay people who find prison rape funny. Several visitors to the gay-oriented “Commercial Closet” Web site indicated they were amused by a Virgin Mobile advertisement with a prison rape theme. Edward Hall of Sanford, Florida said “I apologize to anyone that has been raped while in prison but keep a light heart.” I did not make that up. In addition, I was recently the target of a prison rape joke at a gay Web site. “QVegas” over at the Queerty site said two other gay Republicans and I “should be handcuffed together in a daisy chain and dropped into the middle of a prison yard with no condoms. They all hate our ‘gay ways’ so let ‘real men’ have at them.” No one deserves to be raped, not even gay Republicans – and it’s just not funny.

I’m going to keep blogging and trying to build coalitions to protect incarcerated LGBT people, especially transgender women, from sexual assault. If the gay community continues to laugh at – and get their jollies from – prison rape, while doing virtually nothing to stop it, I don’t know what else I can do.

(In the meantime, I urge people to support Stop Prison Rape, the best organization working to address this alarming crisis.)

UPDATE: I just read about lesbian “comedian” Rosie O’Donnell’s remark at a gay concert-fundraiser yesterday comparing prison rape to being paid huge sums of money to gossip about celebrities with Barbara Walters and Joy Behar. Does anyone doubt that the crowd roared with laughter? Sigh. Most LGBT people just don’t get it….