Watch: Life on the ‘gay wing’ of LA Men’s Central Jail
By Will Stroude
A new video has offered a fascinating insight into life in one the world’s rare few prison ‘gay wings’.
While some prisons offer separate living quarters for transgender prisoners, LA Sheriff County Men’s Central Jail has taken the rare step of housing all LGBT inmates in one wing separate from the rest of the prison population.
An article and accompanying video by LA Weekly has offered a fascinating insight into life on the wing – also known as ‘K6G’ – and you can watch it below:
K6G was created as a response to a 1985 American Civil Liberties lawsuit which brought to light the disproportionate levels of violence faced by LGBT prisoners.
The video describes how many straight inmates at the jail pretend to be gay in order to live in the less dangerous environment, and how officers try to discern which inmates really do identity as gay, bisexual or transgender.
“For some people, this is their home because a lot of their families have disowned them and shunned them, so we’re their family,” K6G inmate Yah Yah explains. “A lot of people’s walks in here have been hard walks.”
Click here to read the full piece on LA Weekly
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