Prisoner of Gender

Prisoner of Gender

By Katherine Johnson & Stephanie Castle

1997, Perceptions Press

242 Pages


From the Cover

This account of one transsexual's prison experiences speaks for all transsexuals caught in the system. It tells of a heartless, authoritarian prison bureaucracy, a state within a state, unmindful of either human rights or dignity and stupefied by its own ineptness. Unqualified personnel make judgements which affect the lives of others. Frustration, anxiety and health undermined by stress and a savage snakepit of human misery, quite beyond the concept of the free man or woman on the street, are prevalent.

Forget the picture of overpainted, bejeweled, flaunting and mincing creatures. They belong to another world. Transsexuals are not like that. They want the same thing as other people - the ability to get on with their lives in reasonable security, free of harassment, going about their daily business and doing things which most people take for granted and regard as normal.


Table of Contents

Part I by Kathy Johnson

1 The Early Years
2 Welcome to the B.C. (British Columbia) Pen
3 Meet My Friend Joe
4 Life or Death
5 Self-surgery is Not Recommended
6 The Hell of Joyceville and Millhaven
7 Release From Purgatory

Part II by Stephanie Castle

8 Transsexualism Described
9 Sisyphus, The King of Corinth
10 Some Outside Opinions
11 Weird Trash
12 My Home is Hell
13 The Psychiatrists and Psychologists Take a Hand
14 "J'Accuse"
15 Some Conclusions and Comments