The Old Ball And Chain
Gay inmates may soon get a ball and chain of a different kind with California to allow gay marriage for prisoners.
While no prisoners have sought marriages with same-sex partners since the Supreme Court ruling, the US Department of Corrections and Rehabilitations is currently drafting guidelines to bring California’s 33 prisons into compliance with the ruling.
Department spokesperson Michele Kane says that under the changes, prisoners will have the same rights as their heterosexual counterparts.
“They will have the same marriage rights as other inmates—they will be able to marry non-inmates, but barred from marrying other inmates in prison”.
According to Kane, two men or two women marrying in prison could raise a number of security and safety concerns.
“For instance, suppose a prisoner finds out another prisoner has money or other assets. They might find themselves coerced into a marriage with a more powerful inmate who might try to lay claim to half their assets,” she said.
Gay rights advocacy group Equality California said they support the proposal.
“From what I’ve heard, the Department of Corrections is applying the same policy to gay inmates as straight inmates. Our concern is people are treated the same and not treated differently,” said executive director Geoff Kors. “This seems to be a nondiscriminatory policy where everyone’s treated the same.”
Rose Braz, campaign director for prisoner rights group Critical Resistance, said the ban on marriage between inmates was also discriminatory. “If it’s a fundamental constitutional right to marry a person of your choice, prisoners should get that choice,” she said.
“The Department of Corrections is relying on speculation and not relying on reality. It’s not based on a sound public policy but really on demonising people in prison and denying them constitutional rights that have nothing to do with why they’re in prison.” she said.
The prison wedding bells may not ring for long, however, with Proposition 8 pushed forward by conservative groups in the November election seeking to overturn the Supreme court ruling allowing same-sex marriage in California.
Last year, California also became the first US state to allow gay inmates to have conjugal visits.
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