James

Unlocked Ambassador, 2018 Cohort

Unlocked Ambassador James is active in the LGBT+ community – and passionate about promoting LGBT+ inclusion in prison.

“As a frontline prison officer, you can have an impact both a local level and a systemic level. In my prison, I’m a member of the LGBTQ community and I got involved with an initiative where members of the community – or allies – would wear these little rainbow ribbons around their epaulettes to show visibility and support for the community. And as well as that, with the help of Unlocked – and it was only possible because of Unlocked – I did a policy paper with some friends on the scheme about how to tackle transphobia and homophobia in the prison service. And that will get seen by the prisons minister and could affect real systemic change.”

James is part of an Unlocked LBGT+ network, which runs events and supports LGBT+ participants within the Unlocked programme.