Gay and Lesbian Prisoners in California Look Forward to Conjugal Visits

In 2003, California drafted a law that gave domestic partners rights similar to married couples and prohibited state agencies from discriminating against them.

Now, according to the San Francisco Chronicle, the California Department of Corrections (DOC) is finally updating its rules and regulations in accordance with the state's law.

"We intend to comply with the law," DOC spokeswoman Terry Thorton told the Chronicle.

As a result, the DOC will allow inmates to have overnight visits, not just from family members, but also for registered domestic partners. The up-to-three-day visits take place on prison grounds, usually in trailers.

Although the DOC indicates this change is because of its desire to comply with state law, the Chronicle reports that the DOC was receiving pressure from the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) in response to a denied conjugal visit for a gay man last summer.

According to the Chronicle, inmate Vernon Foeller was serving a 20-month sentence for attempted burglary. While at the Vacaville facility, he requested permission to have his domestic partner visit him. When that request was denied, he contacted the ACLU.

Foeller told the Chronicle: "The system supposedly wants inmates to keep in contact with their families, but they weren't allowing that for me."

The ACLU took Foeller's case and demanded the DOC follow California's law. The DOC acquiesced and allowed Foeller's partner to visit in December; Foeller was released from prison in April.

In addition to family members - spouses, siblings and grandparents - who are allowed to visit and stay overnight, the new California regulations will now include registered domestic partners. The Chronicle reports that just five other states (Connecticut, Mississippi, New Mexico, New York and Washington) allow conjugal visits of any kind, not to mention conjugal visits for gays and lesbians. California is the first to take this new step.