• KayWhitlock

    Just wanted to also say that a powerful book, Captive Genders: Trans Embodiment and the Prison Industrial Complex, ed. by Eric A. Stanley and Nat Smith, also won a PASS award from the National Council on Crime and Delinquency.
     
    Learn more about this “must read” book here:  http://captivegenders.net/

  • Congratulations Kay!!

    • KayWhitlock

       @Vikki Thanks, Vikki!  Lovely to see you.  How’s that shoulder? 

      •  @KayWhitlock Finally got the sling taken off, but, after more than 4 weeks at a 90 degree angle, I’m going to have to get some physical therapy to get my arm to move in all directions/angles again. Still, I count myself darn fortunate that the damage wasn’t worse *and* that I’m not reliant on prison health care to get myself fixed up.

        • KayWhitlock

           @Vikki Sending every good healing wish your way.  Yes, thank heavens you aren’t reliant on prison health care.  They’d probably dislocate your other shoulder, just to get them to match better. 
           
           

  • Congratulations Kay!! Apologies for getting here late as I was traveling tonight.  Off to bed now.  Huge hugs. :)

    •  @Seeta it s so well-deserved :)

    • KayWhitlock

       @Seeta thanks, Seeta!

  • PegRapp

    Licing in new York city in a mluticultural, multigender and multiclass community, I have seen the willful brutality of the authorities — from the police, to the courts, to the prison system. But when you were said you were going to explore beyond the stereotypes to the deeper issues, I thought –at last — they are going to deal with the basic questions of sex role channeling and how these influence the hostile, deep seated and primordial fear of women in almost all cultures since the beginning of recorded history and how the possibility of “male” dominance and “female” submission informs the conversation.  But no, when we only deal in terms of “gender”, women as an oppressed group disappear and with it, and all deeper discussions of how LGBT roles threaten society’s concepts of dominance and submission, of whose in power. 
     I have no statistics, but I was surprised when you said :
    “For example, we often see prisons used as trope in crime drama tv shows. During the course of an interrogation, a young suspect is compelled to confess by police officers who tell the youth to cut a deal otherwise they will be sentenced to prison where they will become someone’s “bitch.” While often left unsaid, the images conjured up in the popular imagination are often that of a Black lesbian or gay man preying on and turning out an un-consenting individual, a myth that is belied by the facts and lived experiences of LGBTQ people in prison.”
    While I would agree with you that that is probably the stereotype fof the lesbian “bulldyke”, I cannot imagine anyone thinking that the homosexual man is the agressor in the male prison, but instead will be cast in the female role of the “bitch.”  Also in the case studies from the book that you presented,  clearly in the first case, they played into the “manhating” aspect of lesbian stereotypes (woman taking the dominant agressor position). In all cases of transgendered women, the sterotyype is one of a man presenting “like a woman”(submissive) — the worst thing a man could do — to betray the master race by degrading himself by becoming a woman, a submissive “sissy”, giving up the dominant power.  The third case is the reverse– a young woman is presenting as a man, trying to take on men’s power. 
    Although sleeping with a member of your own biological sex is somewhat gender-bending and threatening, it does not necessarily challenge the traditional heterosexual man/woman power structure in the same way that the overt, in the street, switching of roles, switching of power dynamics of dominance and submission, do.  And while we can work for legal equity, if we are really going to get to the root of the problem, we have to go after and dismantle  the categories of dominance and submission — however they occur.
    The new lipstick lezzies are not as much of a threat because they, at least externally, do not challenge traditional male/female riles.  As long as you wear a skirt & lipstick, we will be perceived as a managable “submissive. Equally, the two homosexual men who wear suits and ties, whether or not they are “effeminiate”, will be allowed to pass as they have not challenged the male dmoninant/femalesubmissive stereotypes.
    Clearly white/black and class (rich/poor) are also categories where we know which represents dominance/submission. Age is often another (except we are such a youth oriented culture it gets a little fuzzy). When you combine these categories, it often becomes very clear how oppression and hostility play out in the turf of dominance and submission.  But as long as we are unwilling to challenge the basic male/female dichotomy (which is not really challenged by simply reversing external roles) we will not get rid of the inequity of dominance and submission and we will not solve the problems of oppression in society in general — just change the external face of the oppressed and dominated.
    Why we avoid looking at this aspect of oppression is for a longer discussoin.

    •  @PegRapp hi peg — it may not be the central thesis or focus but I do think Queer InJustice addresses this —
       
      ” how the possibility of “male” dominance and “female” submission informs the conversation.”
       
      Honestly, i think the transgender question is central  re male/female dominance submission.. To me that movement challenges the gender binary and all its pitfalls in its’ entirety — in ways that the women’s movement alone does not

      • KayWhitlock

         @nancy a heitzeg  @PegRapp amen, Nancy.  Well said.

    • KayWhitlock

       @PegRapp Hi, Peg.  Thanks for such a thoughtful comment.  You say:  “I cannot imagine anyone thinking that the homosexual man is the aggressor in the male prison… ‘
       
      Yet many people do think exactly this.  There is an entire right-wing school of thought, that actually has been promoted in the National Review and by folks connected with the Heritage Foundation, as well as right-wing media, that speaks about “gay gangs” that rape white, heterosexual men.  In fact, when white supremacists were arrested and convicted of the murder of James W. Byrd, Jr. in Jasper, Texas, a whole flurry of discourse arose about how these white supremacists, who’d been in prison, became racists only because they’d been attacked and raped by purported black, gay gangs. 
       
      Sound ridiculous?  Maybe to many of us.  But I assure you that many people buy this.  In fact, as research shows, queers in prison are much more likely to be targeted for rape and sexual assault by prisoners/guards who self-identify as heterosexual. 

  • Domino14

    Congratulations

    • KayWhitlock

       @Domino14 Thank you.

  • pmlarsonmiller

    Yes. LGBTQ people who do not fit the affluent white gay male template are grossly overlooked, under-served, and targets of hatred and brutality. As Nancy Heitzeg often says, you can’t just “add and stir” and have a solution to this problem. It takes a deeper, more extensive look at and reordering of the foundations of Queer movements. For all of the diversity within the LGBTQ community to be recognized and gain equity (most pressingly within the criminal justice system,) it will take more public discourse on issues of criminalizing archetypes and intersectionalities of race, class, and gender. 
    To Mogul, Ritchie and Whitlock, thank you for Queer (In)Justice, it truly is a powerful and important piece of literature; congratulations on being awarded the 2011 PASS award. 

    • KayWhitlock

       @pmlarsonmiller Thanks, pmlarsonmillar, for such support.  And amen to “you can’t just add and stir.”  That leaves dominance intact. 
       
      Delighted to see you here.

    •  @pmlarsonmiller glad you found Queer InJustice as powerful as i did paula.. Such a crucial book

  • Ashley Curley

    I interned at a local county jail and the issues that are present in the book were hidden from my view. I find it absolutely amazing that there are so many issues that we feel need to remain hidden, or as a society we are ashamed of and therefore do not bring to the attention of the public. For instance, the treatment that LGBTQ people receive in prison is absolutely ridiculous. I like this book for the very reason that the issue has finally been brought out to the public. 

    • KayWhitlock

       @Ashley Curley Thanks, Ashley, and kudos to you for your internship at the local county jail.  Hidden issues are those we fear to face, for they make us realize our own hypocrisy.  I don’t say that in a contemptuous way – “It’s YOU who are hypocrites, and not us!”  I mean that ALL of us are prey to contradictions and saying one thing/tacitly supporting another.  The real challenge is to come face to face with reality.  That is a challenge for all of us, not just for some, and it is painful.  But together, we can do it. 
       
      Again, thanks for your work in the county jail.

    •  @Ashley Curley thanks ashley — yes visibility is the key to understanding and change

  • PatriciaLevesque

    Congratulations!!  Well deserved :)
     
    Something I found particularly eye opening in regard to the view I personally had of the world around me was how sexuality was used to define and control any population other than white/male.  Your book educated me to some very common stereotypes and how they were created and used to discriminate against minority populations.  Thank you for the wake up call. 

    •  @PatriciaLevesque yes the criminalizing archetypes….so deep

      • PatriciaLevesque

         @nancy a heitzeg criminalizing archetypes, that should be a summer class!  Once you become aware of them you see them at play at every level, from the local news to the national political platforms.  

        •  @PatriciaLevesque yes every day all day everywhere

        • KayWhitlock

           @PatriciaLevesque  @nancy a heitzeg That would be a great class.  Let’s push Nancy to offer it!

    • KayWhitlock

       @PatriciaLevesque You’re welcome, Patricia, on behalf of all 3 co-authors.  Thank you so much.  That’s the core of movement, I think – when we all educate one another from our particular vantage points. 
       
      Hope all is well in your world.

  • rubyr

    Absolutely excellent!!! Congratulations, Kaye!! This is just so great and I am so happy for you and your co-authors.
     
    Thanks for CI, Nancy.
     
    Hope both of you are well and happy. YAY!!!!!

    •  @rubyr YAY!! back to you (((rubyr)))

    • KayWhitlock

       @rubyr rubyr!  hugs, darlin’.  Thank you, and let me thank you on behalf of all of us, Joey, Andrea, and me.  Loved your Middle Collegiate Church post last week, and love the church’s anti-racism message.  Well done!

      • rubyr

         @KayWhitlock Thanks so much. I am so thrilled for you and your co-authors. I know I already said this but it just made me so happy that your book would be honored in the way it deserves to be.
         
        You ones work so hard to try and make this world a better place and it is no easy job. 

        • KayWhitlock

           @rubyr It’s a job for all of us, and we each have a role to play.  All roles need not be the same to be equally important!  Thanks for doing your part, ruby. 

  • Susan Pashkoff

    Kay, I just wanted to tell you how proud I am of you, how proud I am to know you and also to wish you a well deserved congratulations to you, Angela Ritchie and Joey Mogul! Well done! I have been unable to fix the log in, but I just had to send my love and respect. Susan Pashkoff

    •  @Susan Pashkoff great to see you susan ;)
       
      agree 1000%

    • KayWhitlock

       @Susan Pashkoff Susan, hello!  Wonderful to see you, and much gratitude, on behalf of all 3 co-authors, for your incredibly supportive comments.  How go things across the pond?

      • Susan Pashkoff

         @KayWhitlock I have missed these wonderful discussions and everyone here! The UK is in deep trouble; there are so many things going wrong that I cannot even begin to tell you. To give you an indication, a bill was put up by the government to start holding trials in secret; they are using the excuse of the Olympics to ramp up “security” … my car got searched going to a supermarket in the mall next to the Olympic site (I live within walking distance) … children have been sentenced to ridiculous terms for participating in the riots and the US is setting up an armed Olympic camp 2 villages down from me. Oh, and they are relocating poor people from the centre of London overwhelmingly people of colour and their targets are single mothers. In other words, this country is a mess and that is not even raising economic criticisms. This piece today has been the best news I have seen in ages! I am so glad that it involved you! :D

        • KayWhitlock

           @Susan Pashkoff I think we are all fighting variations of the same struggles, Susan.  Sending huge support.  And again, thanks.  Surprised by the award, but very grateful.

        • KayWhitlock

           @Susan Pashkoff Oh, and I have to say, I am a pround member of a broad coalition effort that brought together radicals, farmers, ranchers to oppose Denver as an Olympics site – in the 1970s.  It was a fabulous endeavor, and talk about cross-constituency organizing.

        • Susan Pashkoff

           @KayWhitlock I gave Ken Livingstone a small piece of my mind when he came canvassing in my area about the gentrification telling him that it should have been public housing instead of a gated community; he picked it up for his mayoral campaign (I was quite a sight with the worst illness I had had in years and met him in pajamas to tell him to raise housing in his campaign.
           
          There are lots of groups that will be protesting from child labour groups (clothes for athletes produced by child labour), women’s rights groups, housing groups … no one in the area can even afford tickets or get near them. Well done you, wish we could have done it. People are starting to wake up to the mess. Did you see George Galloway running on an anti-war and anti-cuts campaign won in a Labour stronghold? :D
           

        • KayWhitlock

           @Susan Pashkoff I helped create and place a radio ad in Southern Colorado (my home turf) that featured this song from “Cabaret.”
           
          http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rkRIbUT6u7Q

        • KayWhitlock

           @Susan Pashkoff An anti-Denver Olympics ad, that is!

        • Susan Pashkoff

           @KayWhitlock It is all part of the same struggle that we are all fighting! Am hoping that they have over-estimated their power and their belief that they have defeated true opposition forces. Sending you hugs and huge support back!

        •  @Susan Pashkoff  @KayWhitlock Pajamas!! :)

        • KayWhitlock

           @Susan Pashkoff Amen! 

        • KayWhitlock

           @Susan Pashkoff Oh, and no, haven’t seen the George Galloway piece, but will definitely look for it.,  Cheers, dear heart.

        • KayWhitlock

           @Susan Pashkoff Still imaging you in pajamas!  Let’s hope Ken Livingston listens for the long haul.  Excellent, Susan. 

    • Susan Pashkoff

      It worked! I gave up in frustration, much to my misery as I couldn’t get the log in to work; finally! at least this is in time to give congratulations! I can finally participate here!! Congratulations again!!!

      •  @Susan Pashkoff the livefyre system is better!! so glad you made it!!

        • Susan Pashkoff

           @nancy a heitzeg I will tell Geminijen, she was as upset and frustrated as me, she loves this group! :D

        •  @Susan Pashkoff yes! thank you — glad to have you here

        • KayWhitlock

           @Susan Pashkoff  @nancy a heitzeg new sign-in/comment sytem.  Lyvefire is so much better than Disqus.  Hello to Geminjem.

      • KayWhitlock

         @Susan Pashkoff Woo-hoo!  Glad you persevered!

  • Dirk von der Horst

    MASSIVE CONGRATULATIONS!!!!
     
    Many hugs!  I am so happy for you!

    • KayWhitlock

      hey, Dirk, thank you!  Lovely to see you, dear heart.  Love you.

    • hey dirkster! Second that!
       
      great to see you

  • McKenzieDaul

    I read Queer Injustice for a class I am in with Nancy. It changed my perspective on so many aspects of society not only about the prison system but also how it affects economics, etc. A book very deserving of this award–it for sure is striving for a safer society in that we need more academic material to present solid facts and understanding of what is going on in America. I think as a population we get caught up in media’s portrayal of America and its system and we fail to find out or realize the issues coming out of racism, classism, heterosexism, etc. Overall, amazing book, defiantly a book I will read over and over again to further my understanding and passion to change the injustices we are surrounded in. Thank you, I now feel comfortable explaining and discussing these issues to family members, friends, etc. Books like Queer Injustice are the first step to change I believe because with understanding and awareness people begin to question and challenge the issues! 
    Thanks again!
    McKenzie 

    • KayWhitlock

       @McKenzieDaul hey, McKenzie, good to see you.  Thanks for kind words about the book.

    •  @McKenzieDaul great comment! so glad the book enabled you to initiate discussions with others

  • One of the many strengths of the litigation, advocacy and organizing campaign around this issue is that it made the links between all populations whose sexuality is framed as deviant, and whose efforts and struggles to survive are criminalized. We took a page from theory advanced by folks like Cathy Cohen and Patricia Hill Collins, who talk about how the sexuality of women of color is framed as inherently deviant and to be controlled, and as such is queered in deeply racialized ways, and put it into practice in a campaign that, unlike previous efforts to challenge this law which focused only on LGB people, brought together advocates and organizations working locally and nationally with women of color and LGBT people of color, for civil and human rights, LGBT rights, and sex worker rights and struggles against police profiling and brutality, HIV/AIDS, and poverty  in unprecedented ways, under the leadership of, accountable to, and centering the experiences and voices of women of color, and highlighting the shared experiences of policing and punishment among poor Black women and poor and homeless LGBT people of color.

    • So it really is an incredible example of the kinds of multi-issue, multi-sector organizing we talk about as the future of queer organizing in QIJ, and amazingly, not only did we stand up against injustice because it was the right thing to do, but we actually won!

  • We recently won a case challenging the sex offender registration requirement imposed on individuals convicted of solicitation of oral and anal sex for compensation under Louisiana’s “Crime Against Nature by Solicitation” Statute – no such requirement was imposed on individuals convicted under the state’s prostitution statute. More info here: http://www.bilerico.com/2011/02/prostitutes_are_not_sex_offenders.php and here: http://ccrjustice.org/newsroom/press-releases/judge-rules-sex-offender-registration-%E2%80%9Ccrime-against-nature-solicitation%E2%80%9D-convictions-unconstitution. Hooray for local partners Women With A Vision – http://www.wwav-no.org, who led the charge!

    •  @Andrea Ritchie Excellent news! I teach a January class in NOLA each year and recall when the first concerns about this were raised
       
      Given the draconian nature of LA’s cjs — this victory is huge , in so many ways
       
      Thank you!

      •  @nancy a heitzeg
         Yes, sadly, there is much that remains to be done in Louisiana and across the country to address draconian criminal laws – and much conversation to be had about sex offender registries and the ways they are used to ensnare, police, and punish queers

    • KayWhitlock

       @Andrea Ritchie This is a critical victory.  Well done, Women With a Vision and Center for Constitutional Rights and everyone who was a part of this extraordinary fight.
       
      It’s important for people to understand the implications of sex offender registries – and how they are used as tools of oppression, not as mechanisms for real public “safety,” as they are touted. 

      •  @KayWhitlock  @Andrea Ritchie and despite the reputation of Bourbon St etc, LA has an incredibly repressive view of “sex offenders”
         
        Barely can force themselves to mention this at Angola — refuse to ever let any sex offender wotk up to trustee status and be in contact with the “public”
         
        Medieval
         
         

        • KayWhitlock

           @nancy a heitzeg  @Andrea Ritchie So-called “sex panics,” which almost always turn out to be political crusades, and not at all what they seem at first media blush, might be a rich topic for a future post.

        •  @KayWhitlock  @Andrea Ritchie yes — great idea kay

        •  @nancy a heitzeg  @KayWhitlock
           Agreed – I very much look forward to reading it! Signing off now, but once again, thank you so much Nancy for all of your support of QIJ, and for re-running this interview! So glad to see you have found a new “home” here – looking forward to coming back soon!

        •  @Andrea Ritchie  @KayWhitlock thanks for being here Andrea — much appreciated

        • KayWhitlock

           @Andrea Ritchie  @nancy a heitzeg Thanks, Andrea. 

  • I mostly wanted to join the conversation briefly tonight to share some really great news about one of the issues we raise in the final chapter of the book – because victories in the fight against Queer (In)Justice are rare, but sweet, and to be celebrated – much like the tremendous honor of receiving the PASS award!

    • KayWhitlock

       @Andrea Ritchie And a victory in which you played an important role, together with other fierce warriors.

  • Hello, and thanks so much Nancy for reposting this interview here! and for all of your support and kind words for QIJ
     

    • KayWhitlock

       @Andrea Ritchie Hi, Andrea!  Great to see you tonight.  Can’t wait for your new book.  You have some other terrific news, too, I think…

    •  @Andrea Ritchie Thanks for being here Andrea — much appreciated!
       
      Look forward to the new book!

  • KayWhitlock

    Good evening, everyone.  Joey Mogul is traveling tonight, but Andrea Ritchie is likely to be here! 
     
    She has a new book coming out (!) later this month:  Violence Every Day:  Police Brutality and Racial Profiling Against Women, Girls, and Trans People of Color  http://www.southendpress.org/2010/items/87958
     
    Don’t miss it! 
     
    Thanks to everyone who’s been so supportive of Queer (In)Justice – and especially thanks to Nancy Heitzeg and Scottie Thomaston who have featured the book so prominently.
     
     

    •  @KayWhitlock
       Um, well, the new book isn’t quite coming out next month – more like next year!
       

      • KayWhitlock

         @Andrea Ritchie Oh – well, in any case, it is going to be a classic, and I know it’s going to be both important and powerful.

      •  @Andrea Ritchie  @KayWhitlock We will wait :)

    •  @KayWhitlock i believe Joey is on her way to the TC — the CeCe McDonald case
       
      Quite infamous here — so i am grateful for the support
       
      https://supportcece.wordpress.com/

      •  @nancy a heitzeg  @KayWhitlock
         Yes, she has been helping put together a response to the case for the national lawyers guild and will be joining local organizers up there on the 18th of April I believe?

        •  @Andrea Ritchie  @KayWhitlock Excellent.. the McDonald case is certainly another example of “queer injustice”..The “victim” gets re-labeled as the offender.. Incredible

  • Thanks again for this excellent book!
     
    On a personal note — i have used it in two upper division Soci classes now.. It is accessible, compelling and a real eye-opener for students. Too often issues of sexuality/gender are swept to the side in discussions of criminal justice. Queer (In)Justice places them right at the center – while clarifying the intersections — always — with race and class..
     
    the picture is complete now
     
    Gratitude!

  • ScottieThomaston

    Oh this is great news and well deserved. I’m so glad.

    •  @ScottieThomaston Yes!! Me too
       
      great to see you

      • ScottieThomaston

         @nancy a heitzeg I just shared on Facebook!
         
        Great to see you too. Hope you’re all doing well. I haven’t been over here as much as I would like.

        •  @ScottieThomaston it is always so busy :(
           
          i am doing well  –lots of good news so more soon

        • KayWhitlock

           @ScottieThomaston  @nancy a heitzeg Thanks, Scottie.  You’ve been busy igniting firestorms of good conversation over at Prop 8 Tracker.  Thank you for your posts deconstructing the purported “black/gay” wedge politics.

        •  @ScottieThomaston  @nancy a heitzeg I owe you an email! It will be forthcoming soon. :)

    • KayWhitlock

       @ScottieThomaston Hey, Scottie, we owe you thanks for championing the book.  I know there’s a link to your review up in the piece.  Much gratitude, and thanks for  your own clarion queer voice.

      • ScottieThomaston

         @KayWhitlock I saw! Thanks for linking me, that was awesome. I only wished my computer had been working at the time so I could have gotten the review up sooner. I’m still to this day telling people they should read the book!