Graphics designed by @projecke
Established in 2007 in Montreal, The Prisoner Correspondence Project (PCP) organizes to facilitate communication between LGBTQIA2S+ prisoners with individuals of their communities outside of prison. Run by a small group of volunteers, the Prisoner Correspondence Project collaborates with local and international rights oriented groups in solidarity with incarcerated peoples. They view their work as an opportunity to draw the wider LGBTQIA2S+ community into prison justice organizing and build upon gay liberation legacies and the larger prison justice movement.
Dating back to 2016, there are over 2000 incarcerated people waiting to be matched with a penpal on the PCP waiting list. Becoming a pen pal is a crucial step in generating a community of support, particularly in a space where such support doesn’t exist. In light of Covid-19, the enhanced isolation and segregation of prisoners when lockdowns are in effect and outbreaks occur, increasingly dehumanize our incarcerated community and remove them from access to phone calls and basic services. Divesting from carceral institutions and moving towards building abolitionist futures organized by people and community ultimately still remain the only option in resistance to the prison industrial complex. In this moment, writing a letter is a form of solidarity and community support that helps communities outside the institution and inside to connect over difference, over space, and over prison walls.
Their work emphasizes that letter writing is the basic first step of any kind of prison support. Correspondence with incarcerated peoples has a tangible impact on the debilitating isolation of a prison sentence. On their website, you can find a Resource Library with information related to emotional care, sex work, queer and trans prison writing, their newsletter, and more. You can also find more detailed information about getting a penpal and over 30 thoughtful questions and answers from prospective and current penpals in their detailed FAQs section.
If you are interested in initiating a correspondence and helping link incarcerated folx to resources, education and community support not reachable in prison, check out the link in our bio to learn more or send us a dm! We’ll be sharing more materials for the PCP so don’t be shy to hit us up to connect you!
