The Queer Case Against Prisons

Toshio Meronek @ Truthout - The book Prisons Will Not Protect You describes a sentiment that many queer people can relate to. Every day, police stop transgender people for "walking while transgender," as prison wardens send others to solitary confinement "for their own protection," without recognizing the mental torture that results from 23 and a half hours of isolation per day. Cops still raid gay bars just because (Atlanta, Fort Worth and New York City being a few places where raids have happened in recent years, with some cops beating patrons while calling out uncreative slurs like "Faggots!"). And at ACT UP rallies, the state protects AIDS-profiteering corporations instead of protecting people who protest ever-broadening patent laws that keep life-saving drugs unaffordable for many. In particular, if you're black, Latino, Native American, disabled, homeless, transgender, or any combination of the above, violence at the hands of police and prison administrators is no revelation in your communities.  Read more.