I wrote an article not too long ago about trans women in prison facing high risk of rape by prison staff and other inmates. It’s not a theoretical risk. The numbers are pretty shocking if you dig into them.

I was really discouraged by the number of comments I got telling me that "prison isn’t supposed to be a country club," or something along those lines.

That’s just such a morally bankrupt line of thinking. Of course prisons aren’t country clubs, but that doesn’t mean that people should face high risk of rape.

When I read recently about the leader of the Proud Boys complaining about raw sewage in his cell, I have to confess I briefly felt a surge of schadenfreude. I quickly tried to redirect the way I was thinking. Yeah, I don’t like the guy because he leads a white nationalist organization. But exposure to raw sewage, human feces, isn’t part of the deal in either prison or jail.

It’s neglect that rises to the level of criminal abuse, and it’s unacceptable no matter who’s sitting in that cell. No civilized people treats detainees or prisoners like that. It’s morally wrong, and it must stop.

As a nation, we have the resources to do better. That we choose not to say something terrible about us.

It says nothing about country clubs.