SOUTHWEST OF SALEM: FILM AND PANEL

Southwest of Salem tells the story of four Latina lesbians who were wrongfully convicted of gang-raping two young girls in the early 1990’s in San Antonio, Texas. They spent decades in prison before finally being exonerated. Their prosecution and conviction was the product of a homophobic culture and criminal legal system. Now trans, GNC and queer people are facing persecution in California’s women’s prisons as a result of similar attitudes and a prison power structure that condones targeted violence against LGBTQ and gender nonconforming prisoners.