This was my first time in jail and, as a scrawny 23-year-old, I was afraid to do anything but obey. I don’t know why I expected them to do anything. Even with several people in the cell, no one said or did anything. Out of fear, I performed oral sex on them both. The man who was standing exposed himself while the other aggressively forced me to give his friend oral sex. I looked at him in horror as tears welled up in my eyes. “You ain’t fighting back, is you, sweetness?” he said. I attempted to spring up but another man stood over me and forcefully pushed me back down by my shoulders. Still, a man sat next to me and put his arm around me. 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. So I found a quiet spot on the floor in the corner. As I was being booked into Orleans Parish Prison in November of 2004, I realized I was a target.ĭuring the processing I was placed in a holding cell with nearly fifty other prisoners. Like everyone, I had heard the stories about men being “turned out” in prison. Coming from a family of several positive male role models, I never had to hide who I was, so I never did. I’ve always been gay, but I’ve never been overtly effeminate.
