CCWP Benefit for #MeToo Behind Bars Lawsuit

Four plaintiffs who have been incarcerated at the women’s prison in Chowchilla, CCWF, have filed the #MeToo Behind Bars lawsuit against the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR). The plaintiffs all identify as transgender, gender non-conforming (GNC) or queer. The lawsuit denounces physical assaults, sexual harassment and homophobic/ transphobic insults by correctional officers against them. Rojas, one of the plaintiffs in the case, will be part of a panel discussion after the film.

Southwest of Salem tells the story of four Latina lesbians who were wrongfully convicted of gang-raping two young girls in the early 1990’s in San Antonio, Texas. They spent decades in prison before finally being exonerated. Their prosecution and conviction was the product of a homophobic culture and criminal legal system. Now trans, GNC and queer people are facing persecution in California’s women’s prisons as a result of similar attitudes and a prison power structure that condones targeted violence against LGBTQ and gender nonconforming prisoners.

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