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09/29/13 - 10:44:18 AM - Shinas As a former eplyomee of the NC Department of Correction, working in a closed-custody all male facility, I would like to thank Q-Notes for allowing Mr. Urbaniak to share his experiences as a gay man in prison. The fact is I am not employed by NCDOC today, for the same reason. I have witnessed the horror first hand, that Correctional Officers and prison administration commit against gay and bisexual inmates & staff (or those they perceive to be). (When I “came out” to my parents, my mom informed my supervisor of my orientation and that resulted in a barrage of rumors, investigations and retaliations – all of which I could not prove at the time to constitute legal action. I never found out about this conversation my mom had, until a year later when we reconciled our relationship.)During my tenure with NCDOC, I can personally recall at least eight staff members who verbally used anti-gay speech in the presence of, or towards inmates. (In one instance, an inmate was being stripped search which is standard protocol in a prison when a department head asked the inmate if he had been ass f***ed going on to say that he thought the inmate could fit a softball in his rectum. In another instance, a transgender inmate who used “fireball” candy to “paint” her lips to appear like they had lipstick, was the target of an assault organized by a correctional officer. In that incident, I had an interaction with the inmate and charged her with “disobeying an order” to have the inmate placed in solitary confinement – so that they inmate would avoid the physical assault.)I have also seen dozens of publications, similar to The Advocate and Genre, discarded because the prison administration didn't want that trash in their facility. While the Department does have standard protocol in place and is governed by State and Federal law, much of the day-to-day operation is left up to an individual (commonly known as the Superintendent or “warden”) and his/her designees. Only those explicit constitutional rights (there are 8), as outlined in law that inmates keep while incarcerated, are not eligible for the Superintendent’s interpretation or flexiblity. (Violations of these rights are generally the cause of inmate lawsuits. And, yes, many of the lawsuits are frivolous, but a huge number of these suits have been upheld in court and have resulted in extensive reform and change within the Department of Correction).I don't deny the fact that Mr. Urbaniak has been charged with a crime. A judge and jury have already done their job and Mr. Urbaniak is paying his price for that crime. His status as a convicted felon does not neglect the fact that he deserves fair and equal treatment while he serves his time in the custody of NCDOC. Mr. Urbaniak deserves the same rights (nothing more or less) as other inmates entrusted in the care and custody of NCDOC. It is not fair for other inmates to receive Hunting magazine, Christianity Today magazine, Magnum magazine – and Mr. Urbaniak not be able to receive a news publication (i.e. The Advocate, Genre, Out, etc), for the simple purpose that the publication offends the prison administration.His list of prison infractions, are mostly small infractions. An adequate comparison would be to a downtown parking ticket. He could have received many of the infractions at the same time and they could all be related to his pending lawsuit. Picture this: The inmate is taunted by a correctional officer who knows he is gay. The officer physically assaults the inmate and the inmate defends himself by pushing the officer away. The officer could easily charge the inmate with verbal threats, fighting, violating NC law (it's illegal to assault a state eplyomee), disobeying orders and being in an unauthorized location (you are only authorized to be where prison staff tell you if they tell you to leave your cell and you take too long you can be charged with this offense). His forgery charge could be from using an alias name on outgoing mail or signing something other than his official name on a document (writing “Refused to sign” on a prison document could get you this charge). Misusing phone and mail could be from continuing to receive the unauthorized material that the prison says isn't allowed.I'm not defending Mr. Urbaniak or his actions, but I know that inmates aren't treated fairly. In addition, the infraction court is not like a court you and I would be tried in. The judge is generally a ranking correctional officer. The judge hears a statement from the staff and from the inmate and makes a decision. Generally the judge follows with the recommendation of the staff. (I have personally witnessed many inmates receive charges for things that I know they did not do) You are at the mercy of the prison staff (if they don't like you, your life will be hell).I hope that QNotes will continue to run this column. Regardless of the fact that the inmate has been charged with a crime, he still the right to access to the media and to express his dissent in the way his is being treated. In this case, it’s obvious that his right has been unfairly infringed. By providing Mr. Urbaniak with a medium to share his injustice, QNotes is taking a leading stand for overall LGBT rights (not just those enjoyed by folks like you and me who obey the law – but by every human).I'm grateful that Matt and the editorial staff at Q-Notes decided to share Mr. Urbaniak’s experience with our community. Mr. Urbaniak’s crime no more is all inclusively representative of LGBT people than the Unibomber’s messages published in news media around the country is reflective of Caucasian people. It’s also unfair to refute Mr. Urbaniak’s sexual orientation on the basis that he committed a crime (of which he has been found guilty, is serving his time and has received extensive therapy).I denounce the messages of those who want to represent the LGBT community by desiring to misplace the bigotry found in this story. Discrimination, in any context, is wrong. It is possible for NC’s LGBT community to denounce the bigotry of the NC Department of Correction without embracing incest, pedophilia or other heinous crimes. Ignoring Mr. Urbaniak’s experience with bigotry will not help our movement. As society, we are measured how we treat those “less” among us.I'll continue reading Q-Notes and continue to look forward to more messages from Mr. Urbaniak as I join with him in fighting for fairness at the NC Department of Correction, within the State of North Carolina and in our nation. Thanks again QNotes for giving someone who would otherwise not have a voice – the ability to share with us the discrimination and bigotry embedded within our State government! Submit your comments and they will be posted here. Make this comment Public or Private to the Author only: Name: Email: *Your email will NOT be posted. This is for administrative purposes only. Comments: *Your Comments WILL be posted to the AUTHOR ONLY if you select PRIVATE and to this PUBLIC PAGE if you select PUBLIC, so write accordingly.   Please enter the code in the image: