The grim tth of beg gay prison | Sadhbh Walshe | The Guardian

Contents:

• COOMA JAIL: PRISON THAT WAS ONCE 'WORLD'S ONLY JAIL FOR GAY MEN'
• 10 THGS I LEARNED AS A GAY PRISONER BEHD BARS
• [WATCH] UNSEEN FOOTAGE OF KG VON CLAIMG HE’S GAY TO BE PLACED PRISON PROTECTIVE CTODY
• VIO RURFAC OF KG VON TELLG POLICE HE'S "GAY" TO RELOTE IN JAIL
• COOMA JAIL'S DARK PAST CLUS BEG WORLD'S ONLY 'GAY PRISON', PODST REVEALS
• COOMA JAIL'S DARK PAST CLUS BEG WORLD'S ONLY 'GAY PRISON', PODST REVEALS
• THE GRIM TTH OF BEG GAY PRISON
• IN SOUTH KOREA, GAY SOLDIERS CAN SERVE. BUT THEY MIGHT BE PROSECUTED.
• ‘BEG GAY PRISON IS TEN TIM HARR’: INMAT TELL OF ABE, USE OF SOLARY
• KG LIL JAY SLAMS GAY MORS AFTER VIO OF MAT KISSG PROMPTS TROLLS’ RPONSE

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

Straight men who have engaged suatnal homosexualy (such as prison or the ary), what's your story? Also notably, William Hurt beme the first performer to w Bt Actor for playg a gay man. After a r crash, Rsell realiz he's gay and pledg to live life to the fullt.

While the film was not overtly gay -- censorship would have prevented that at the time -- the lbian unrton are hard to 's Prison MassacreThis 1983 horror film follows Emanuelle, a reporter sent to prison on tmped-up charg.

10 THGS I LEARNED AS A GAY PRISONER BEHD BARS

Image source, The Greatt MenaceImage ptn, Cooma jail was once ed exclively to imprison gay menSet one of the lst and wdit small towns Atralia, Cooma prison holds a dark only was reopened 1957 wh the specific purpose of rceratg men for "homosexual offenc", was also said to be ed as a human ttg ground wh the ultimate goal of eraditg homosexualy om 's jail is believed to have been the only known homosexual prison the world, acrdg to a new now, even some prison staff say they didn't know the real reason gay prisoners were segregated Strzelecki, 66, started as a ctodial servic officer at the prison 1979, and later set up the Corrective Servic Mm Cooma. We'd red stamp homosexual prisoners wh 'N/A': non-associatn wh mastream prisons, " he tells the BBC. "You wouldn't bunk two together… that was one of our biggt problems - keepg an eye on them, " says Mr New, now source, Thomas McCoyImage ptn, L Strzelecki (left) worked at the jail before settg up the lol Corrective Servic MmHistoril documents suggt New South Wal (NSW) Jtice Mister Reg Downg took cred for tablishg the reportedly exprsed "pri" at his pet project, tellg the Sydney Morng Herald 1957: "Nowhere Europe or Ameri did I fd any prisons where homosexuals were separated om other prisoners.

" A 1958 prs statement om Mr Downg nam Cooma prison as "the only penal stutn the world, so far as is known, voted specifilly to the tentn of homosexual offenrs". Prisoners at Cooma were rcerated for beg gay, or crim related to beg gay; homosexualy wasn't crimalised NSW until dranian state laws 1955 had cracked down on homosexualy.

[WATCH] UNSEEN FOOTAGE OF KG VON CLAIMG HE’S GAY TO BE PLACED PRISON PROTECTIVE CTODY

"The legislative chang were very wi-rangg their asslt on the civil liberti of men thought to have homoerotic sir. Attempted buggery rried five years, and a harsher crackdown, a clse was add statg "wh or whout the nsent of such person" source, State Library of NSWImage ptn, Reg Downg exprsed pri separatg gay prisoners om othersBoth Mr Wotherspoon and the podst ce evince of police actg as "agents provotrs" to ce men to m homosexual acts. "They'd e hunky policemen to entrap gay men by enticg them to have sex, ually public toilets, " Mr Wotherspoon 1958, the NSW ernment announced a mtee of quiry to the "e and treatment of homosexualy".

It nam Cooma prison as "a special stutn for nvicted homosexual offenrs" which will "facilate the vtigatn" a "scientific evaluatn of the problem and possible solutn" has been found, Mr Downg is quoted as sayg, "the ernment nsirs that the problem mt be attacked wh vigour".

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

' and nclud that 'overmotherg' was "a major e of homosexualy, " says podst creator and journalist Patrick Abboud, who has spent years rearchg the prison. "We know they failed their missn to eradite homosexualy bee our podst reveals gay men havg ongog relatnships the prison. "The elive report has never been found - somethg Mr Abboud says amounts to a "ver up" source, Getty ImagImage ptn, Cooma is a town of about 7, 000 peopleIt's unclear when homosexual prisoners were no longer sent to Cooma.

COOMA JAIL'S DARK PAST CLUS BEG WORLD'S ONLY 'GAY PRISON', PODST REVEALS

Corrective Servic NSW and the NSW Department of Communi and Jtice cled to ment on the allegatns, cg their "historil nature" Abboud believ gay prisoners may have been sent there until the early 1980s, cg a 1982 statement om the rrective servic mister claimg the policy still stood. Sex offenrs were also sent to Cooma and this further stigmatised gay prisoners, says Mr Wotherspoon says, wh recent parliamentary bate of a Relig Discrimatn Bill threateng to allow discrimatn based on sexual orientatn, such recent history rri a soberg warng. You may also be terted :Media ptn, How Atralia's first gay imam is 'savg liv'.

The thought of beg a gay man prison sred the livg daylights out of me. Worse, I feared that bee I was a gay man, I’d be an easy target for abe. Moreover, they also knew that I was gay.

What follows are 10 thgs I learned om the perspective of a gay man and ex-mate at a feral prison mp. My hope sharg this is to offer a realistic snapshot to gay men who get sent to prison.

COOMA JAIL'S DARK PAST CLUS BEG WORLD'S ONLY 'GAY PRISON', PODST REVEALS

Some men do go gay for the stay too but nobody the term “gay”. Fally, gay mat ually stick together. But even then, don’t expect fair treatment – particularly if someone wh thory don’t like gay people.

Not to be stereotypil but as a gay man, I had some refed tast food before gettg sent away.

As a gay man, I prid myself my pearly wh. Remember when I said gay sex is unmon at prison?

THE GRIM TTH OF BEG GAY PRISON

The one advantage of beg a gay prisoner is that you are sometim approached for a barter. I’ve been asked if gay men have prison boyiends. First, the relatnships are almost always kept on the DL, even if you are openly gay.

IN SOUTH KOREA, GAY SOLDIERS CAN SERVE. BUT THEY MIGHT BE PROSECUTED.

Other observatns as a gay prisoner:.

Some are gay and some aren't. Regardls if you are gay or straight, dog time prison is extremely hard. When you are gay, 's a ltle different.

‘BEG GAY PRISON IS TEN TIM HARR’: INMAT TELL OF ABE, USE OF SOLARY

Many have argued his real purpose for g the exce of beg gay to be moved, however, crics have stated that real Gs don’t fake their sexual orientatn for protectn, pecially behd bars. In the rerdg leaked earlier this week, the Chigo rapper appears to claim he’s gay to law enforcement officers an effort to secure a cell transfer while servg time jail. They got a problem wh gay people.

Eighteen terviewe self-intified as heterosexual, four as gay, and four as bisexual. Gay and bisexual men reported that while they were “fairly” or “totally” open about their sexualy on the wg, they were discreet about their sexual activi and relatnships.

KG LIL JAY SLAMS GAY MORS AFTER VIO OF MAT KISSG PROMPTS TROLLS’ RPONSE

One heterosexual man said that he had had nsensual sex wh gay or bisexual prisoners “out of necsy”. Some terviewe observed that they had known some openly homosexual upl beg allowed to share cells some stutns.

One terviewee reported that a senr officer had moved a young prisoner, who had nfid he was “nfed” about his sexualy, to the cell of an openly gay, olr prisoner, orr to help him “sort himself out”.

As celebratns ramp up ahead of Sydney's annual Gay and Lbian Mardi Gras this week, a dark part of Atralia's LGBTQI+ history is beg explored by a new pots:The Greatt Menace podst explor the dark past of Cooma's jailThe se reopened the 1950s as a "gay jail"Podst maker says was the world's only "gay prison"Podst The Greatt Menace has unearthed the tth behd the world's only "gay prison, " which operated the regnal New South Wal town of Cooma om 1957 to hoe men nvicted of homosexual historic jail and one-time asylum closed the early 1900s before s reopeng. "When someone tells you that there was a gay prison signed to rcerate gay men that self was shockg enough.