Want to support Bent Bars? Donations Welcome!

The Bent Bars Project is a grassroots organisation that has no regular source of funding. All of our costs (for stamps, stationary, printing, etc) are paid for by collective members, penpal volunteers or through ad hoc fundraising. So we are always grateful for donations no matter how small. Postage stamps (particularly colourful and pictoral ones) are also welcome.

Click here to donate

New Website coming soon!

The Bent Bars Project - with the help of some friends - is currently working on a brand new website. Check back soon for our beautiful new site!

2020 Public Events & Drop-in Sessions

The Bent Bars Collective meets every week to run the project and coordinate penpal scheme. In addition to this, we also host regular public events and 'drop-in' sessions for penpals, volunteers and others who want to learn more about our work.

Here are some of the upcoming dates:

Wednesday 12 February 2020 - Drop-In, Central London

Monday 9 March 2020 - Drop-In, Central London

Wednesday 8 April 2020 - Drop-In, Central London

Email us if you'd like to attend and we'll send you the details of where we are meeting. Other dates and events will be posted closer to the time.

Bent Bars is 10-years-old this year!

Join us for our ten-year anniversary party!

Come celebrate a decade of connecting LGBTQ communities across prison walls.

7-9pm Saturday 16 March 2019

Venue: Studio Voltaire

1a Nelsons Row, London SW4 7JR

With performances by That Ray, Bird La Bird, Djs and more.

Details and tickets are available here.

2019 Public Events & Drop-in Sessions

The Bent Bars Collective meets every week to run the project and coordinate penpal scheme. In addition to this, we also host regular public events and 'drop-in' sessions for penpals, volunteers and others who want to learn more about our work.

Public events tend to be talks, film screenings, information sessions, reading groups and other educational events. 'Drop-in' sessions are opportunities for volunteers, current and prospective penpals to come by our regular Collective meetings and say hello, ask questions about being a penpal and find out how to get more involved in the project.

A summary of the current year's schedule is below, but please check our events calendar for full details.

2019

January 2019 - No meeting

February 2019 - No meeting

Saturday 16 March 2019 - 10-Year Anniversary Party

Thursday 11 April 2019 - Drop-in

Thursday 9 May 2019 - Drop-in

June 2019 - No meet-up and event this month

Thursday 11 July 2019 - Drop-in

August 2019 - no meeting

Thursday 12 September 2019 - Drop-in

Thursday 10 October 2019 - Public Event (details to be confirmed)

Thursday 14 November 2019 - Drop-in

Thursday 12 December 2019 - Holiday Mailout

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Join us for our August 10th Summer Picnic!

August 10th is Prisoners Justice Day. Traditionally, this is a day to remember all those who have died in custody, and we want to gather together as a community to honour loved ones inside and to support each other and build our collective strength in resisting the harm and violence of prisons.

We will gather from 7-10pm in St. James's Park, London. We'll be in the north east section of the park - not too far from the cafe. We'll be near a pathway, so that wheelchair users have access.

Please bring some food and/or drink to share if you can. Picnics blankets are also helpful.

This is a free event, but if you want to bring a donation of postage stamps or money to contribute to our ongoing work, that would be much appreciated.

Friends, family, partners, children, pets welcome.

See you there!

Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/events/1941080222802139/

International Trans Prisoner Day of Action and Solidarity

22 January 2017 London Vigil

On Sunday 22 January 2017, Bent Bars hosted a candle light vigil outside Pentonville Prison, London, to honour all trans and gender nonconforming people who have died in prison and all those who are currently incarcerated in prisons, secure hospitals, immigration detention and police custody. [Photo credit by: Christopher Bethell.]

For further details, see here.

For details on events which happened elsewhere in the UK see here.

For a list of actions and events worldwide, see the link below. You can also download a 'zine of writing by, for, and about trans prisoners. https://transprisoners.net/

https://transprisoners.net/events/

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Check out Refuse Powers' Grasp, 21-23 October 2016

http://arika.org.uk/events/episode-8-refuse-powers-grasp

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Bent Bars supports the Women & Trans Week of Action Against the Prison Industrial Complex.

Click here for more info / to get involved.

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The Bent Bars Collective has issued a statement in response to public discussion following the recent deaths of two transwomen in prison, Vicky Thompson and Joanne Latham.

We were deeply saddened to learn of the death of Vicky Thompson in Leeds prison on 13th November 2015 and the death of Joanne Latham in Woodhill prison on 27th November 2015. These apparent suicides, at least one of which was in direct response to being incarcerated in a sexgender inappropriate prison, represent significant losses in our trans* communities. Although we were not in communication with Vicky or Joanne, their situations are familiar to us and have resonances with the experiences of many trans* and sexgender nonconforming people in prison who contact the Bent Bars Project.

We wish to extend our condolences to both Vicky’s and Joanne’s loved ones and to all those affected by their deaths. These are losses that have been felt and mourned across our broad communities.

We are heartened by the public response of concern in the aftermath of these women’s deaths. Too often, issues faced by prisoners are neglected, ignored or sensationalised in the media. So it is crucial that the wider public be made aware of what is happening in our prisons in order for these issues to be properly addressed. At the same time, we feel the focus of discussions needs to be widened to address larger issues surrounding the incarceration of trans* people specifically and the harms of imprisonment more generally...[To continue reading, please click here].

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Bent Bars collective member, Chryssy Hunter spoke at a public screening of the Award-winning film 'Out in the Night' - about the New Jersey Four.

Photo from left to right: Gloria Morrison, Raju Rage, CampbellX, Chryssy Hunter, Stephanie Davis, Eddie Bruce-Jones.

Click here for more details.

About Bent Bars:

The Bent Bars Project is a letter-writing project for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, transsexual, gender-variant, intersex, and queer prisoners in Britain. The project aims to develop stronger connections and build solidarity between LGBTQ communities outside and inside prison walls.

Although many overtly homophobic and transphobic laws have been recently overturned in Britain, the criminal justice system continues to target and criminalize queer, trans and gender non-conforming people. We don’t know exactly how many LGBTQ people are currently behind bars, but we do know queer, trans and gender non-conforming people, particularly those from poor backgrounds and communities of colour, are disproportionately funneled into the prison system as a result of systemic discrimination, inequality and social exclusion. We also know that queer, trans and gender non-conforming people are often subject to increased isolation, harassment, violence and assault when in prison.

Bent Bars aims to work in solidarity with prisoners by sharing resources, providing mutual support and drawing public attention to the struggles of queer and trans people behind bars.

Poster Design by A-K Pirata

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