Gay Tennessee Prisoner Refuses to Out Himself in PREA Classification Hearings
In an essay for Filter Magazine published on February 10, 2025, openly gay Tennessee prisoner Tony Vick made a surprising admission: He consistently identifies himself as “straight” in annual classification hearings conducted under the Prison Rape Elimination Act (PREA), 42 U.S.C. ch. 147, § 15601 et seq. The reason, he added, was that prison officials read the law to require classifying a sexual minority prisoner as a potential “victim” or “predator,” while heterosexual prisoners may be classified “neutral.”
Vick has served three decades of a life sentence for killing both his first and second wives. It took him a long time in South Central Correctional Facility before he was ready to come out as gay, he said, fearful of becoming another prisoner’s “property.” Being isolated in protective custody was another fear, especially when he saw it happen to those gay prisoners who were too “flamboyant.”
His decision to remain closeted for PREA purposes was based on his observation that “predator” gay prisoners were often incarcerated sex workers who presented no real threat. Meanwhile, gay prisoners classified as “victim” may have had gay sex in their teens and then grown up to be quite violent. Retaining a “neutral” classification—even by lying—protected him from housing assignments that may or may not expose him to violence.
Not letting a PREA counselor classify him as a gay also reflected Vick’s other observation about men who have sex with other men in prison—that “[i]t wasn’t actually identifying as gay that mattered—just being identified as gay by others.”
Source: Filter Magazine
As a digital subscriber to Prison Legal News, you can access full text and downloads for this and other premium content.
Already a subscriber? Login