How Post-Prison Reentry Programs Fail Queer Women

endwealth:

Queer residents were further vexed by the refusal of probation
officers and halfway house supervisors to approve home plans that
included same-sex female partnerships. Claire, who knew better than to
disclose that she planned to live with the female partner that she had
grown quite close to while incarcerated, was devastated when a fellow
resident revealed their relationship to a halfway house staff member.  

Claire later shared with me that she cycled into a depressive episode
that lasted for weeks, after hearing the house monitor declare, “the
time for y’all to be touchin’, ticklin’, and gigglin’ is over. Now is
when you get serious about who you want to be.”

Indeed, none of the women I met at the halfway house could cite positive
past relationships with men, yet all were encouraged to pursue reentry
plans that involved men. In fact, residents shared that house staff and
probation officers often encouraged plans that involved a male partner,
whether or not he was economically secure, but discouraged plans that
included a criminally uninvolved, economically secure female partner.

How Post-Prison Reentry Programs Fail Queer Women