Gay wing in LA County jail becomes the hot spot for inmates

Nov 20, 2014

LA Weekly went inside the gay wing of a Los Angeles County jail and found out it is actually safer and more relaxed than the straight wing.

The K6G wing, founded in 1985 following an ALCU lawsuit that claimed gay inmates faced higher rates of violence, houses 400 gay and transgender inmates. Inmates there say violence is low and limited to relationship issues and that an environment of family and community pervades.

“You’re allowed to be with whomever you want to, talk to whomever you want and do whatever you want to, basically, as long as you do it in a respectable way,” said 47-year-old Dave Williams, who goes by Yah Yah. “For some people, this is their home because a lot of their families have disowned them and shunned them, so we’re their family.”

K6G inmates sleep in large rooms with bunk beds and liven up their lives with Friday night “family nights” that range from fashion shows to speed dating to even staging a wedding.

Deputy Sheriff Javier Machado said that inmates from the straight wing often try to join the K6G inmates. Some simply want the relaxed rules, while others may have devious plans to hook up with transgender inmates. For this reason, any inmates petitioning to get into the wing are thoroughly questioned before they can be admitted.