In the Gay Wg of L.A. Men's Central Jail, It's Not Shanks and Mugggs But Hand-Sewn Gowns and Tears - LA Weekly

Contents:

• IN THE GAY WG OF L.A. MEN'S CENTRAL JAIL, IT'S NOT SHANKS AND MUGGGS BUT HAND-SEWN GOWNS AND TEARS
• LOS ANGEL' JAIL HAS THE COUNTRY'S ONLY 'GAY WG' FOR INMAT
• INSI THE GAY AND TRANSGENR WG AT THE LOS ANGEL COUNTY JAIL
• VIO RURFAC OF KG VON TELLG POLICE HE'S "GAY" TO RELOTE IN JAIL
• LBIAN, GAY, BISEXUAL, TRANSGENR, QUEER AND INTERSEX (LGBTQI)
• COOMA JAIL: PRISON THAT WAS ONCE 'WORLD'S ONLY JAIL FOR GAY MEN'
• LEAR OF DALLAS GROUP THAT TARGETED GAY MEN ON GRDR GETS 23 YEARS FOR VLENT ROBBERI

IN THE GAY WG OF L.A. MEN'S CENTRAL JAIL, IT'S NOT SHANKS AND MUGGGS BUT HAND-SEWN GOWNS AND TEARS

Williams, a transgenr mate known on the si as Yah Yah, glis past a hootg and hollerg crowd of her fellow gay and transgenr mat, perched atop their beds for a prime view.

But among the roughly 400 people hoed “K6G, ” the gay wg of Men’s Central Jail, there’s ltle outward exprsn of racial prejudice or gang rivalry.

LOS ANGEL' JAIL HAS THE COUNTRY'S ONLY 'GAY WG' FOR INMAT

Dunn Roy, a gay Brish film producer who was held K6G for 89 days whout bail 2012, unr ex–Sheriff Lee Ba’s ntroversial terpretatn of “immigratn holds, ” rells, “In other parts of the jail, you try and smuggle dgs and cigarett. The gay wg at Men’s Central Jail is an exceptnally rare, if not unique, subculture, the only environment of s kd a major U. Nothg like exists Ameri’s 21 largt urban jails, all ntacted by the Weekly, where officials scribed far more most terms their own steps to al wh and hoe gay mat.

San Francis has a transgenr hog area, but gay mat live among the general populatn. In New York’s Rikers Island, whose siar gay wg was shuttered 2005, a jail spokman lghed out loud, sayg that whoever cis which men get placed L. County’s gay jail wg “mt have really good gay-dar.

” The clost thg to a gay wg another big, urban jail system, though isn’t close at all, is at the Old Wayne County Jail Detro, which offers a small number of locked cells to gay and transgenr mat. MCJ’s gay wg was set up rponse to a 1985 ACLU lawsu, which aimed to protect homosexual mat om a higher threat of physil vlence than heterosexuals faced. Another mate of the gay wg at Men's Central Jail stts her stuff.

INSI THE GAY AND TRANSGENR WG AT THE LOS ANGEL COUNTY JAIL

She’s bee somethg of a n mother for the revolvg muny of gay and transgenr mat. Today, some straight mat vie to get placed MCJ’s gay wg, part bee ’s a safer harbor for ex-gangbangers aaid of beg nonted by vlent enemi, jailers say.

VIO RURFAC OF KG VON TELLG POLICE HE'S "GAY" TO RELOTE IN JAIL

The Sheriff’s Department even a “classifitn officer” to weed out impostors, through a seri of ntroversial tt qutns about gay culture. Deputy Sheriff Javier Machado, a classifitn officer, reli on a seri of go-to qutns, such as askg purportedly gay mat to name a lol gay bar they equent.

LBIAN, GAY, BISEXUAL, TRANSGENR, QUEER AND INTERSEX (LGBTQI)

If an g mate manag to rrectly name a gay bar L. Acrdg to the gay mat, another reason some straight men try to get to K6G is that they want to hook up wh often-pretty transgenr tae. But a major reason, almost certaly, is that the gay wg is a far ls dangero, more humane place to be.

David Arrieta, one gay mate given permissn to speak to the Weekly and be viotaped si the gay wg, explas, “Beg a Hoe Moe [the heterosexual si of Men’s Central Jail], you are nsired a rat, whereas K6G you are nsired a fairy. Dunn Roy, the producer, says the Hoe Moe the gay wg is a “very powerful posn [bee] is the liaison between the puti and the dorms.

COOMA JAIL: PRISON THAT WAS ONCE 'WORLD'S ONLY JAIL FOR GAY MEN'

When mat are first assigned to a gay dorm, they are immediately stripped of their general-populatn, dark blue jail uniforms and given the powr-blue uniforms that signify they are gay or transgenr. As Roy not, “For the first time my life, I was intifiably gay. Acrdg to one litenant, the gay mat ntually tweak their bleak environment.

Every Friday, the gay dorms put on self-anized events such as “Fay Night, ” which they prent fashn shows, and engage “dorm datg” (a form of speed datg). In one of the three gay dorms, mat pete Mr. Gay Dorm 9100, named after their room number.

In the gay wg, soap be strangely effective hair product, and foil is refully svenged om the si of cereal box to be fashned to shy silver buttons. A mobile the gay wg ma of cereal box and magaze pag; Cred: Photo by Ani Ur. It might almost appear, to an outsir, as if MCJ’s gay and transsexual mat are gently mockg society’s expectatns of how crimals are supposed to act when nfed behd bars for long perds of time.

LEAR OF DALLAS GROUP THAT TARGETED GAY MEN ON GRDR GETS 23 YEARS FOR VLENT ROBBERI

For years, gay prison mat have been sgled out for mistreatment and persecutn. Alexanr Lara, wrg the Southern California Interdisciplary Law Journal, reported that a 2007 study of California mat showed 5 percent of straight men were victims of sexual asslt cludg rape, while “an astonishg” 67 percent of gay, bisexual and transgenr mat were.

Block, brought by ACLU attorney John Hagar on behalf of gay and transgenr mat, set forth procr and ndns for their safety and secury.