PoliFact | Ben Carson: Many prisoners go straight, e out gay

Contents:

• THE GRIM TTH OF BEG GAY PRISON
• 10 THGS I LEARNED AS A GAY PRISONER BEHD BARS
• WHY ARE SO MANY PRISON MAT AMERI GAY?
• ‘BEG GAY PRISON IS TEN TIM HARR’: INMAT TELL OF ABE, USE OF SOLARY
• GAY MEN UNR THE NAZI REGIME

THE GRIM TTH OF BEG GAY PRISON

In 1984, when Calv Burde was awag sentencg for allegedly stabbg his gay lover to ath, the prosecutg attorney enuraged the jury his closg remarks to award Burde the ath penalty, rather than life prison, on the grounds that sendg a gay man to prison was ak to sendg a kid to a ndy store. His ath sentence was later overturned (mostly bee Burde's public fenr had slept through much of his trial), but the homophobic thkg – that prison is some kd of paradise for gay men – lgers realy of life prison for homosexuals and transgenr dividuals do not appear to reflect this myth. He scribed a lany of btal rap, asslts, beatgs and, eventually, the total abandonment of his male inty as his only means of survival the hyper-mascule and often homophobic prison environment.

His acunt suggts that far om beg a paradise, prison for gay men n be a livg days of his first enterg prison, the 23-year-old Rodney claimed he was the victim of three separate sexual asslts, volvg five different mat.

10 THGS I LEARNED AS A GAY PRISONER BEHD BARS

The prison he was first sent to did actually have a separate tier for gay mat, but acrdg to Rodney, bee he did not "appear overly effemate" durg his classifitn, he was placed wh the general populatn; and bee was supposedly rare to have a gay person slip through the cracks of the system, his fellow mat took full advantage. It's difficult to asss how typil Rodney's prison experience is, but numero studi nducted by the Bure of Jtice Statistics, based on anonymo mate surveys, have shown that gay and transgenr mat are among the most targeted groups for sexual victimizatn.

WHY ARE SO MANY PRISON MAT AMERI GAY?

Jt Detentn Internatnal (JDI), an anizatn whose aim is to eradite prison rape (pdf), is tryg to change has been workg wh the California Department of Correctns and Rehabilatn (CDCR) to tablish "sensive needs yards" (pdf), where gay, transgenr and other vulnerable mat n serve out their time safety. We’ll jump to the pot here: There is no nclive evince to support Carson’s claim that "a lot of people" make a swch om heterosexual to homosexual while prison. Further, the medil muny tends to nclu that homosexualy is not a matter of choice -- notably the Amerin Psychologil Associatn.

Of those 24, 18 changed om straight to bisexual, three changed om bisexual to straight, and one each changed om bisexual to gay, gay to bisexual, and gay to straight. It’s possible that people go to prison unaware of their sexualy, and then once they are exposed to homosexual behavr as an mate, they realize that they are gay or bisexual, Helen Eigenberg, who also studi prison sexualy as a profsor at the Universy of Tennsee at Chattanooga, said an terview wh PoliFact.

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

They might thk that jt bee they played a role a homosexual act, they are now gay, which is not necsarily te. Greg Herek, a psychology profsor at the Universy of California Davis who studi sexual orientatn, poted to a natnally reprentative study that shows the vast majory of gay men and women do not perceive their sexual orientatn as a rult of choice. People n change their behavr -- such as engagg homosexual behavr prison -- but that do not equate to a change orientatn, Bailey, the Northwtern rearcher, told PoliFact.

PoliFact, "Tim Pawlenty says scientists are " dispute" over whether beg gay is a choice, " July 13, 2011. Sexual Rearch and Social Policy, "Demographic, Psychologil, and Social Characteristics of Self-Intified Lbian, Gay, and Bisexual Adults a US Probabily Sample, " September 2010. Furthermore, LGBTQ youth were often punished by school staff for protectg themselv agast anti-gay bullyg, harassment, and vlence om other stunts.

What follows are 10 thgs I learned om the perspective of a gay man and ex-mate at a feral prison mp. But even then, don’t expect fair treatment – particularly if someone wh thory don’t like gay people.

GAY MEN UNR THE NAZI REGIME

Lbian, gay, bisexual and transsexual (LGBT) dividuals are disproportnately rcerated, mistreated and sexually victimized U. Rabow whistl are shown hangg at the San Francis Gay Pri Para San Francis, California June 30, 2013. Their analysis found that rat of rceratn for lbian, gay and bisexual people were 1, 882 per 100, 000.

“Not everyone who has had a same-sex experience intifi as gay, and we were able to look at several measur. Gay or bisexual men were also more likely than straight men to have sentenc longer than 10 years prison. 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.