An imprisoned journalist writes about imprisoned queers

Khayala Aghayeva's May 17 article

On May 17, the International Day Against Homophobia, Biphobia and Transphobia, imprisoned journalist Khayala Aghayeva wrote from behind bars about the queers held behind bars. The article, published by Meydan TV, became one of the most widely read and harrowing pieces of this May 17.

Aghayeva writes from prison. She opens with a conversation in one of the cells of the Baku Pre-Trial Detention Center, with an inmate named Gulnaz (a pseudonym): "When I get out, I can't say 'I was locked up with a trans person inside.' That goes against our world."

Prison = the most rigid fortress of the binary system

The picture Aghayeva paints is horrifying:

• Trans women are placed in either the men's or women's wing depending on whether or not they have completed gender-affirming surgery.

• Queer inmates are held in separate cells, in what is referred to as the "gay barrack."

• Those placed in this barrack cannot sit at the same table as other prisoners, their food is served next to the toilet, and their bed is placed by the door.

• At Pre-Trial Detention Facility No. 3 in Shuvelan, when a homosexual inmate is doing work, the air vents of all the cells are sealed shut, under the pretext that "the men don't want to see them."

• Even prison staff refuse to greet queer inmates, otherwise, the "mujiks" (alpha-male inmates) won't shake their hands.

"Prison rules" are an extension of society

Aghayeva makes her sharpest observation in the middle of the piece. What happens in prison is neither an isolated reality nor an ordinary order. It is a direct extension of society. On the outside, homophobia operates as hidden, cultural and social pressure. On the inside, that same homophobia is institutionalized as unwritten law, physical segregation, and systematic dehumanization.

"With the human tragedies it creates and the unconscious crimes it commits, homophobia is the greatest threat to fundamental human rights."

You can read the full piece on Meydan TV's website.

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