I have to be very careful writing this entry, because I want my sister to be able to read it with less difficulty than usual. This is not an entry I want her to give my mother for proofreading. That is because it concerns violence against gays here.
The silver lining in this story is that such an occurrence, at least at the minimum security level, doesn’t seem to be random. You usually have to do something considered provocative for the “hands-off” policy to be ignored or waived by members of your own race, so you can largely avoid problems by following the unwritten rules of acceptable conduct. (The greatest irony of prison is that the vast majority of the time it is members of your own racial grouping that you have to worry about). The bad news is that a justifiable provocation can be a mere perception of wrong-doing. For example, being seen leaving the curtained bottom-bunk of someone of a different race in the middle of the night.
Let me explain about curtained bottom bunks. Some of the only privacy afforded inmates comes from sheets that are hung on the same homemade plastic cord traversing the left and right undersides of the top bunk from which wet laundry washed in sinks also hangs to dry. These “curtains” are usually pulled shut on one side only, the side which conceals the bunk from the prying eyes of a C.O. walking from the direction of the guard booth. Occasionally the makeshift curtains might be drawn closed on both sides of the bunk so the inmate occupying that bunk can enjoy moments of relative privacy (i.e, jerk off).
Curtains allow for a third possibility; a duo who would want their middle of the night tete-a-tete to go (hopefully) undetected. This kind of encounter is usually so discreet as to be invisible to most and as such, defacto tolerated. But there are enough eyes open at night--whether belonging to "soldiers" on watch, tweakers unable to sleep, or the bathroom bound-- that such encounters are risky. And flirting with disaster if they involve individuals of different races.
In another dorm, it seems a young white inmate named Rudy was seen departing from the curtained “house” (bunk) of black inmate in the middle of the night. Whether anything actually happened between the two doesn't matter. Here, perception (or assumption) is reality. As a result, Rudy got a beating in the bathroom because of it. (I don't know if the black inmate was similarly disciplined by his own, but I don't think so. My impression is that they are much more likely to sanction black on black sex, but only between masculine men. A "queen" is fair game. And if Rudy had been with a white "queen," it probably would have gone unpunished.)
Rudy has been in this blog under the pseudonym Robbie. He was the handsome rake I met waiting for the doctor who told me about obtaining drugs at Folsom years ago. Soon after that entry he became involved with Jamie, a tall 30ish Latino who has since paroled. Rudy himself is 28 and handsome and evidently horny enough to take risks, in fact, he and Jamie had been caught in the bathroom at Cedar (the orientation dorm). but this did not provoke the wrath of the whites because it involved a “Wood” and a “paisa.” As I said, Rudy’s latest “infraction” evidently involved a black inmate. And of course it should have ended there. This should have been no one else’s business, either the perception of it or the reality of it. But this is prison.
Evidently, one punishment was not enough. Rudy was accosted again by 3 whites, where I'm not sure. This time he fought back, and fought well, roundly besting the trio. Rah, Rah Rudy. (One doesn't spend the better part of 10 years behind bars without learning to fight.)
After pretending not to see what was going on as long as possible, the C.O.’s finally intervened. They don't generally get in the way when it comes to intraracial disciplinary actions. They are only proactive when the strife is interracial. White on White, Black on Black, or Latin on Latin violence is considered the domain of the inmates, no matter the cause. If an inmate wants protection from his own, he can ask to be “rolled up,” i.e. sent into Protective Custody, where he can look over his shoulder everyday for the rest of his term and during any subsequent revisit to prison.
Rudy was transfered to another dorm. His silent allies, like Earl and I, hoped that was the end of it, but of course a gay man kicking ass, even in self-defense, could not be left to stand unpunished.
Last night, Earl came back from Yard shaking. On the way there, he witnessed Rudy getting jumped by a swarm of Whites. “They kicked the shit out of him,” he reported. But he also lingered long enough to see that somehow, Rudy was still able to walk away. He’s a tough kid.
So Warden, if you’re reading this, I have a suggestion. This prison needs a gay dorm. They do it in LA County; in fact they have 3 of them. I’m not talking about Birch (the Protective Custody dorm), where we are mixed with child molesters, rapist and informants. I’m talking about a dorm where we don’t have to worry about being beat up, “taxed,” verbally harassed, isolated, ignored or shunned. In fact, if you follow L.A.’s model, it could include the gay-friendly, not just gays, i.e.be inclusive of any inmate who wants to opt out of the racism and racial classifications. Really, anyone willing to sign a pledge of non-violence could get in. Anyone who violated it or used hostile or divisive language would be transferred out of there, case closed.
I have no doubt that this suggestion will go unheeded, but I'll try re-suggesting it when I get out. As for the guards in the tower who somehow didn’t see Rudy being beaten up, and the guards on the yard who chose not to look until the damage was done, shame on them all.
MCO 2004
P.S. Update- Rudy has left the yard. We assume he is in Protective Custody. Considering living conditions are harsher there, he is the one who ends up being punished for getting jumped. And once in Birch, he can not transfer back into the general population, as will be marked as an informant. I hope his parole date is not far off.
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