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by Britney Gulley
The injustices and sufferings at Lane Murray Unit are innumerable. From officers, nurse staff and ranking officials, Lane Murray Unit is the devil’s playground for transgenders and Blacks to be assaulted, sexually harassed, bullied, raped, discriminated and retaliated against by the same people who are supposed to protect people inside the barbed wire.
“I can’t breathe” has been chanted across the nation of innocent unarmed Black people dying by the hands of cops. But what about the prisoners chanting “I can’t breathe”? At Lane Murray Unit, as a transgender man or Black woman, it seems as though the Civil War never existed.
While the white man gets rich off each prisoner chained up, capitalism is causing each Black woman and transgender man to be a victim of abuse that scars the soul, deteriorates mental stability, pulverizes emotional well-being, destroys self-esteem and murders spirituality.
The abuse that transgenders are subjected to at Lane Murray Unit is gruesome. The abuse Black people endure at Lane Murray Unit is grotesque. The suicide rate and death toll at Lane Murray Unit is the highest percentage on its own, compared to all the other female units added together. What does that tell you?
While the white man gets rich off each prisoner chained up, capitalism is causing each Black woman and transgender man to be a victim of abuse that scars the soul, deteriorates mental stability, pulverizes emotional well-being, destroys self-esteem and murders spirituality.
The struggle is real. Lane Murray Unit should be the name of a disease or a cancer that’s detrimental to a human’s psychosis and physical form, that paralyzes and rots the bones.
Officers utilize disciplinary cases to retaliate if you report the abuse and corruption. The nurse staff deny medical attention or turn a blind eye to the injuries sustained by the officers. The ranking officials laugh at degrading, belittling homophobic remarks and racial slurs used to taunt and ridicule.
As a trans man I fear for my safety on a daily basis. My life is constantly endangered – medical denies my injections for hormonal therapy to continue my transition. Officers beat us up in blind spots where the cameras don’t face. Black people being called “nigger b**ches” is the norm!
“In between a rock and a hard place” is a common adage for suppression at Lane Murray Unit and “pressure burst pipes” is a common adage for oppression. Lane Murray Unit has the famous moniker “Miserable Murray.” Whether gender or race is a contribution to the hate, these perspectives lead transgenders and Blacks to be targeted and subjected to increased harassment, humiliation, rape and other forms of abuse and torture.
The increased violence from staff at Lane Murray Unit is horrifying and unbelievable. As a trans man I fear for my safety on a daily basis. My life is constantly endangered – medical denies my injections for hormonal therapy to continue my transition. Officers beat us up in blind spots where the cameras don’t face. Black people being called “nigger b**ches” is the norm!
White supremacy is alive in full effect at Lane Murray Unit. Doctor assistant Bennett, nurse Everheart, Sgt. Tyson, Sgt. Transzu, Major Jackson, Officer Williams, Officer Bates, Officer Capps, Officer Armas, Officer Stanley, Sgt. Ruff and others, are all known members of the KKK. And none try to deny their affiliations with the KKK, nor conceal their contempt and disdain for Blacks and transgenders.
The dorms are numbered K1, K2, K3. Any significance registering here? KKK is Lane Murray Unit’s oppressive structure and alliance within staff.
These people violate their ethical code of conduct, prisoner’s civil rights and Texas Department of Criminal Justice (TDCJ) protocol, yet they get patted on the back and congratulated for their misconduct and their mistreatment toward transgenders and Blacks. At Lane Murray Unit the dorms are numbered K1, K2, K3. Any significance registering here? KKK is Lane Murray Unit’s oppressive structure and alliance within staff.
Where is the justice? When does the torture and abuse end? Must I die a martyr for transgenders and Blacks to attain acknowledgement, justice or peace like George Floyd and Breonna Taylor’s deaths that attracted the nation’s attention?
I currently reside at Skyview Unit, a mental hospital facility, after being a victim of prolonged abuse and torture at Lane Murray Unit. In June 2020, while being choked and kneed in the back by officers Bates and Williams, Sgts. Transzu and Tyson stood by taunting and laughing saying invectives such as, “suffocate tranny” and “can you breathe boy?” as I gasped and screeched “I can’t breathe!”
Once I passed out, I could hear them panicking as they conspired on how to cover up and explain my death. Lucky for me I was still alive when medical arrived on the scene, and nurse Lucas revived me. Sgts. Transzu and Tyson then recanted their lie about how they found me with a sheet tied around my neck, hanging unresponsive. I was immediately admitted to crisis management in which I was put on suicide watch for mental evaluation.
This is just one example of collusive tactics utilized to suppress the transgender and Black prisoners from voicing their oppression. I’m one of the rare survivors able to tell you this horrific story today. A fractured world living as a victim at Lane Murray Unit.
Send our brother some love and light: Britney Gulley, 1601283, Skyview Unit 379 FM 2972, Rusk, TX 75785.
