Black and Pink speaks on campus about LGBTQ experience inside prisons

By Janu Pangeni and Nathan Lederman

Compared to the rest of the world, the United States prison system reigns supreme. 

The country that has always fought for life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness has 698 people incarcerated per every 100,000 people, according to a 2018 study from Prison Policy Initiative. While many experience harassment and injustice behind bars, life in prison can be especially punishing for the LGBTQ community. 

On Sept. 26 Boston University’s Students for Reproductive Freedom, a registered Planned Parenthood student organization that advocates for abortion access and comprehensive sexuality eductaion amongst other things, brought special guest Michael Cox to speak at the George Sherman Union’s Center for Gender, Sexuality and Activism about life for LGBTQ members behind bars, and the need to abolish prisons. 

Cox serves as the director of policy for the Boston chapter of Black and Pink, a national prison abolitionist group and advocacy group for incarcerated members of the LGBTQ community and those afflicted with HIV. 

“Inside the prisons, [members of the LGBTQ community] are so much more likely to experience violence: physical violence, sexual violence, harassment,” Cox said. “Our experience inside the system is categorically different.” 

Black and Pink started as an anarchist group in 2005, adopting their name by combining the colors representing anarchism and the power of queer politics and experience, according to the organization’s site. 

But the organization is no longer just an anarchist group. In 2006, just one year after their founding, they introduced their “pen pal” program that allows for people across the country to correspond with incarcerated members of the LGBTQ community with the ultimate goal of reducing harm and building affirmation for those on the inside. 

While Cox was the event’s guest speaker, Nicole Levine, a sophomore in the Questrom School of Business who attended the event, said the night was very interactive. 

Instead of featuring a long talk from the speaker and a short Q&A session afterwards, Levine said, Cox’s opening remarks lasted only five to 10 minutes with roughly 45 minutes dedicated to the Q&A session.

One question, which Levine recalled, asked whether Cox believed prisons should be repaired to improve conditions even when his ultimate goal is to abolish them. Cox said he supported the improvement prisons, Levine said, while believing they should ideally all be abolished.

“[He] had a very strong opinion, and it was really interesting to hear,” Levine said. “I think a lot of us were shocked, but after hearing his argument I think some of us were moved a bit more toward an abolitionist perspective.”

 Charlotte Beatty, a sophomore in the College of Arts and Sciences who works in public relations for BU’s Students for Reproductive Freedom, said she was the one who brought up the idea for last Thursday’s event and did a lot of the primary organizing for it.

“Activism is really big here, people like to participate in community organizing and community activism. So I think that BU is a really great community for an organization like Black and Pink,” Beatty said. “So many people here are motivated and want to give back to Boston.”