MARCH 2015 newspaper
POPE FRANCIS WILL BREAK BREAD WITH GAY, TRANSGENDER PRISONERS DURING PRISON VISIT
(RNS) When Pope Francis pays a visit to Naples this Saturday (March 21) he will have lunch with some 90 prisoners at a local prison, a contingent that will reportedly include 10 from a section reserved for gay and transgendered prisoners, and those infected with the virus that causes AIDS.
REST IN PEACE AND POWER, ASHLEY Ashley is a Black and Pink member that took her life on February 24th. We are sending love and support to all who knew Ashley and our community at large. We are publishing a letter of Ashley’s that was originally in the July 2014 issue.
The stopover at the Giuseppe Salvia Detention Center in Poggioreale, near Naples, was originally not scheduled to include lunch, according to a report from Tv2000, an Italian television network operated by the country’s Catholic bishops. But the pope insisted on the meal, which will be prepared by the prisoners, some of whom will come from two other detention centers. The 90 were chosen by lottery from among 1,900 prisoners, according to the Vatican Insider website. Among the many innovations Francis has made since his election two years ago this month has been a new tone and approach to gay and transgender people. One of his signature phrases, “Who am I to judge?,” came in response to a question about whether a gay man could be a priest. And in late January he met privately in the Vatican with a transgender man from Spain who had written to Francis about the rejection he was experiencing in his home parish. Francis has made an outreach to detainees a signature part of his ministry to the “marginalized.” On Holy Thursday next month, he will wash the feet of men and women inmates at a facility near Rome, as he did shortly after his election. The lunch this Saturday will be very simple, even “frugal,” because the pontiff wants to take time to meet each prisoner individually, Anna Maria Esposito, head of a prison ministry, told Vatican Radio. The prison visit is part of a busy day for the pope in the sprawling Italian city 150 miles south of Rome. Francis will begin by praying at a sanctuary in Pompeii — a town known for its Marian shrine, as well as a volcano — and he will go on to hold a series of events, including an outdoor Mass and meetings with young people and the sick before returning in the evening to the Vatican. By David Gibson originally published on The Huffington Post March 20, 2015
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Dear Black & Pink, Hello, I’m Ashley, one of several transgender inmates at my institution, a federal prison in Virginia. I am writing to share with everyone a longawaited victory at our institution. After years of filing, and taking a case to court, four transgender inmates are now beginning hormone therapy, myself included! We consider this huge here because of their several years of repeated denials and stall tactics. I am also currently in litigation as to several issues, including the purchase and retention of female undergarments, purchase and retention of makeup through commissary or on SPO, and a prescription of Finasteride. One of the girls here is also battling for electrolysis. We all got started on 50mg of Spironolactone a day and 0.1 mg estrogen patches (Alora brand) twice a week. A couple of us have also seen victory in legally changing our names, myself included; now we are in the process of making it legal at our sentencing court and the BOP. We want to publish this story to inspire everyone not to give up-- keep fighting; the war is far from over but this is a major battle won. Keep your heads up! All my love, Ashley, Virginia (Federal prison) SEND US YOUR ART! This month’s header is by John in Indiana! Have your art featured in the Newspaper! We’ll feature a different artist each month! Send us a drawing that says, “Black & Pink” or “Black and Pink” or “Poetry from the Heart” for the headers! Header art should be around the size of the newspaper header! Smaller or larger images may be resized to fit. You can send us other art too and we will include it in the poetry page.