the homos organized

Yesterday the homos stopped turning tricks and organized for prison reform. By noon an asshole bandit – as aggressive homo-chasers are called – who was turned down by a prison queen, was knifed by a scared-eyed boy who was protecting his manhood from assault. And two guards were K.O.’d when a pussy hungry weightlifter took their night sticks and went berserk.

The warden, panicked by the sudden violence, agreed on first request to allow TVs in the cells and other reforms if the queens would call off their strike and de-organize. Within an hour the prison was back to “normal” and the warden walked easy.

His only other alternative was to drop his pants and stop the violence himself.

There are a few references to homosexuality in Jerome Washington’s Iron House: stories from the yard. The above passage is the one that made me most curious about the stories Washington doesn’t tell. In his afterword ex-con Washington says, “Although homosexuality and drug abuse are realities in prison, neither appealed to me.” He does describe instances of rape and there are a couple other stories where gay men stand up for themselves but Washinton seems to view gay men from a distance (rather than actively dislike them). The story about the “queens” organizing piqued my interest. We all know the don’t-drop-the-soap joke – that prison sex is mainly rape or, conversely, that it’s paradise for the girlish gay, the boys who, yeah we know, really want to be chicks. I’d like to learn more about gay men. What is prison like for them?