Jail gay stories
Cooma jail: Prison that was once 'world's only jail for gay men'
Set in one of the coldest and windiest compact towns in Australia, Cooma prison holds a dark secret.
Not only was it reopened in 1957 with the specific purpose of incarcerating men for "homosexual offences", it was also said to be used as a human testing ground with the ultimate goal of eradicating homosexuality from society.
Cooma's jail is believed to possess been the only known homosexual prison in the society, according to a new podcast.
Until now, even some prison staff say they didn't know the real reason homosexual prisoners were segregated there.
Les Strzelecki, 66, started as a custodial services officer at the prison in 1979, and later set up the Corrective Services Museum in Cooma. He believed inmates were sent there for their control safety.
"Cooma was a protective institution. We'd red stamp lgbtq+ prisoners with 'N/A': non-association with mainstream prisons," he tells the BBC. "They were at peril of violence at bigger prisons prefer Long Bay [in Sydney]."
But another former employee, Cliff Unused, claims it was for l
The Jailhouse Lover I Never Had
I was a proud, out gay man when I came to Minnesota’s Pottawattamie County Jail in January 2015. But I had to adv hide my sexuality after I arrived.
County jails are complete of anger. I was surrounded by people who were deep in the toxic trauma that brought them there. Guys were coming off street drugs. Many were still shocked from their arrest. Some were still angry with the spouse they were abusing. Many of them were violent. I include seen more fights in county jails than in all of the eight years I acquire been in prison.
It took me 50 years to enter out. When I was a infant there was no option for existence gay. I didn’t even know a name existed for who I was until I went to high university in the 1970s.
Once I came out, I decided that no matter the consequences, I was going to exist out and arrogant. And yet a cloak of shame and guilt returned to me after I arrived in jail. I decided to downplay my sexuality because I did not wish to get overcome up and then tossed into solitary confinement. Whatever self-acceptance I had wasn’t worth it.
Then, one afternoon in delayed spring, a guy came to our jail who sparked my interest. He entered our pod with a batc
World's only known gay prison now listed on NSW Heritage Register
For decades Cooma Gaol's history was a dark secret.
According to the NSW government, between 1957 and 1984, it was the only known prison in the world specifically for gay men, gender non-conforming women, and non-binary people.
But even locals like Cooma-born theatre maker Mark Salvestro, who grew up male lover in the alpine town, were completely unaware of its history.
"Learning that Australia set up a same-sex attracted prison in the 1950s was nothing short of horrifying," he said.
"But what made it worse for me was that it all happened in my home town and no one knew about it.
"Or if they did, they didn't talk about it until now."
It has been 41 years since homosexuality was decriminalised in NSW.
In June 2024 the declare government made a formal apology to those convicted under laws that criminalised homosexual acts, and now the former prison has been recognised on the State Heritage Register.
Loading...In a statement, Minister for Corrections Anoulack Chanthivong said the recognition was important.
LGBTQI+ collective support services
ABCQueer has compiled this list of national and state-based supp
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I’ve always been gay, but I’ve never been overtly effeminate. Coming from a family of several positive male role models, I never had to hide who I was, so I never did.
Like everyone, I had heard the stories about men being “turned out” in prison. As I was being booked into Orleans Parish Prison in November of 2004, I realized I was a target.
During the processing I was placed in a holding cell with nearly fifty other prisoners.
I was terrified going into the cell. So I found a quiet see on the floor in the corner. I sat with my knees in and my arms folded with my head down, so I’m not sure how they knew I was gay. Still, a man sat next to me and put his arm around me. I attempted to spring up but another man stood over me and forcefully pushed me back down by my shoulders.
“You ain’t fighting back, is you, sweetness?” he said. I looked at him in horror as tears welled up in my eyes. The man who was standing exposed himself while the other aggressively forced me to give his friend oral sex. Out of fear, I performed oral sex on them both. Even with several people in the cell, no one said or did anything. I don’t know why I expected them to do anything.
I
Former prisoners share their experiences of sex in prison
The Commission on Sex in Prison’s final report, published today (Tuesday 17 March), features accounts from former prisoners speaking for the first time about their experiences of sex behind bars.
Sex in prison: Experiences of former prisoners is the fifth and ultimate briefing paper published by the Commission, which was established by the Howard League for Penal Reform and includes eminent academics, former prison governors and health experts.
Recommendations from the Commission’s two-year inquiry will be presented today (Tuesday 17 March) at a conference in London.
The Commission sought permission to interview current prisoners about their experiences of sex in prison, but this approach was blocked by the Ministry of Justice.
However, Dr Alisa Stevens, Lecturer in Criminology at the University of Southampton, was competent to interview 26 former prisoners during the summer of 2014 – 24 men and two women.
Her report concludes that a national survey of both the serving prison population and former prisoners, fully supported by but independent of the National Offender Management Service (NOMS), is “urgently required” to