When I tell people about the hair dryer I recently purchased from Union Supply, the sole vendor contracted with the Washington state prison system to sell personal property items, the reaction is always the same. Their eyes drift to my thinning head of hair.
“Why do you need a hair dryer?”
The better question would be: “How’d you get that?”
Up until recently, the clear Conair hair dryer ($30.95) was only available for purchase in women’s facilities.
In the last decade, Washington state’s LGBTQ community has advocated for and succeeded in gaining gender-affirming medical care, including hormone therapy and sex reassignment surgery. They’ve also gained access to gender-affirming items like personal clothing, makeup and hair tools like curling irons and hair dryers.
LGBTQ activism in prison is nothing new. In 1977, the late Ed Mead formed a solidarity group to protect and advocate for queer individuals inside Washington State Penitentiary. Called Men Against Sexism (MAS), its aim was to end sexual violence and support queer and trans prisoners.
But the group also advocated for gender-affirming clothing items like underwear and dresses. Through their activism, the incarcerated queer community has claimed many rights for themselves, which in turn has benefited others like myself.
This past winter — during some of the coldest days of the season — the heat quit working in my unit. While my neighbors were shivering in their cells and the dayroom, bundled up in coats and hats, I was kicked back in my own cell, in shorts and a shirt, thanks to my makeshift hair dryer ceiling fan.
To create the ceiling fan, I bent a paperclip into a hook and affixed that to the ceiling with a piece of tape. The hair dryer has a rubber loop on its handle, so I was able to hang it from the hook.
Twenty-two years ago, when I was first incarcerated, the prison had no policies specifically addressing the LGBTQ community, and medical care for all prisoners was abysmal.
Trans people trying to carve out their own identities would use the dye from a bag of Skittles or colored pencils as makeshift makeup. As a result, these individuals were routinely issued rule violations for “possessing anything not authorized for retention” or for misusing property items.
Some went to extremes, even attempting self-surgery with available items.
It was not until Feb. 13, 2020, that the first state corrections policy regarding “Transgender, Intersex, and/or Non-Binary Individuals” was published. Three years later, in the fall of 2023, hair dryers and curling irons were added to the list of property items available for purchase.
For me, the hair dryer has served as a great tool to dry out my coat and shoes after rainy days in the exercise yard.
I have heard a lot of grumbling from incarcerated folks who believe the LGBTQ community is getting special treatment and extra health care. In response, I always say: Any progress for one of us is progress for all of us.
