Ask Stacey!

‍

Welcome to another exciting instalment of Ask Stacey!

‍

I have lots of friends in jail, should I stay in contact with them when I’m released?

‍

If they’re good for you, then the short answer is yes.

‍

About half my friends have done time. They are very loyal and kind people who I trust entirely. They are off the drugs and have jobs and stable housing. And we are all getting on with life together. I’m not sure we could have done it alone.

‍

When we are released, many of us face persecution and are forever stuck in the justice system. So, we really need to stick together, because the system is not on our side.

‍

How do I stay in touch? I like the email system that some of the Victorian prisons use. They send an email and I get it that day and can email back right away. Some systems are clunky and take much longer. But I always liked to send emails more.

‍

There are phone calls of course. I’ve visited in person and had Zoom calls as well .You need to get on the person’s phone list. Just remember to ask them to put you on their list before you leave and get on top of it straight away to save time. It’s faster to ask when you live in the jail than when you have moved out and are put on hold, or the letter is lost in the mail room.

‍

I will stress this: it is all recorded and read. Everything you say can and will be used against you. Obviously, don’t say anything illegal and don’t say anything that could be used against you (or others) in a court.

‍

Be smart and very mindful.

‍

I am gay, but no one knows. I am scared to tell people in jail, but I want to engage with the services in jail. What should I do?

‍

My experience is there are a lotttt of LGBTQI people in jail – and many that don’t feel safe to come out.

‍

In the community, you can just be queer or gay or whatever. Some people even identify as cats and dogs out here. I went to this festival near the Collingwood police station, and it had a puppy pen for humans who identified as dogs. I patted a few.

‍

In jail though, it’s like being on Grindr, but the app is frozen with unsolicited pictures and propositions propping up. What do you do?

‍

My best advice is: community can be very important for surviving jail and beyond. If you miss community and belonging I’d say reach out to some people who you trust in the community.

‍

Jail is isolating, and being released from prison is as well. Look to the future. Who is supportive, what helps, what happens when you get out.

‍

I had a lovely group of LGBTQI friends in jail, we would meet at my cottage and have unofficial pride meetings. And I still socialise with them now we are all released.

‍

Why can’t I study in jail? Either the waitlist is massive, or I’m only allowed to do traffic management. Why can’t I do something useful?

‍

Capitalism. The government awards exclusive contracts to education providers. They, in turn, offer contracts to teachers. So, the University of Chocky Mouses offers advanced interpretive dance. But if they don’t have a dance teacher contracted, you don’t get to learn interpretive dance.

‍

And I understand that can be upsetting. As you had big dreams of being a dancer when you got out. But traffic management has a lollypop…so..there’s that, I guess.

‍

But wait! The university actually does have a dance teacher now! But it’s a Bachelor’s Degree in dance done by RayGun. So, the staff limits do not kick in. Only one education office! Darn it. That means they have very limited time to assist with online research and tests and can’t take on more inmates studying at this time. Back to traffic management.

‍

A new year comes around and people graduate! There’s room now available! But my favourite roadblock now pops up: the safety and security of the prison. Interpretive dance has now been flagged as a form of martial arts and been banned… I guess it was never meant to be.

‍

I do understand the frustration.

‍

I was told I wasn’t allowed to study a foreign language because they couldn’t read the book and that meant it could have hidden codes in it. I was also told I wasn’t allowed to do psychology due to me possibly using it to take over the prison…

‍

I get it, when you’re looking for threats, you see them everywhere. But hidden codes can be written in English, and if I’m confident that I could use psychology to take over a prison, then I could have used it to not go to jail in the first place like a Jedi or something.

‍

I am not the criminal you’re looking for.