The Sacrifices of Speaking Out： Hector Bravo's Story
Episode Stats
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Summary
Hector Bravo-Farrell is the first whistleblower to speak out and resign from the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR) in protest of California's transgender prison policies. He is also the Director of the Independent Women's Forum, a leading women's organization, which is making a documentary series called Cruel and Unusual Punishments.
Transcript
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Welcome back to the Gainsborough Girls podcast. Today's guest is a former correctional lieutenant
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inside the California prison systems. This is a correctional officer who worked inside
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the men's prisons, but at the peak of his career, Hector Bravo Farrell realized he could not take
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it anymore. Things inside the prison became dangerous. They became unethical. After SB 132
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passed in California, a law, a state law that required prison guards to transfer convicts
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from the men's prison to the women's prison based solely on gender identity. This law also allowed
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male inmates who merely said they were women to demand that they be searched, of course, entirely
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in the nude by female prison staff members. Farrell, he walked away from his stable, lucrative career
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where he was making $157,000 a year at the end of his career to really become the first whistleblower
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on these backwards policies inside the correctional world that he says put female prison staff and
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inmates at risk. As said, he is the first whistleblower to speak out and resign in protests
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of California's transgender prison policies, which, to be very clear, one more time, allow convicted men,
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oftentimes men convicted of horrible, awful, heinous sexual crimes, to be easily transferred into the women's
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facility. And of course, there's a lot of other corruption that he witnessed during his time as a correctional officer.
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He has partnered with the Independent Women's Forum, really the leading women's organization,
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in making a docu-series called Cruel and Unusual Punishments. Again, they've been doing phenomenal work
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highlighting the stories of female inmates, formerly incarcerated women, women who have been impacted by
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these transgender policies, and of course, Hector's story. He is an army veteran as well, which I think
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shows you right there, his bravery. He's a girl dad. That's why he fights, but could not be more
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excited to have him on the Gains for Girls podcast. Check out the episode here with Hector Bravo-Farrell.
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Well, Hector, thank you so much for joining, and Kelsey. Kelsey is, of course, the storytelling
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director at the Independent Women's Forum, and Hector is the phenomenal, brave, brave on many accounts.
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He was an army veteran. He is an army veteran, but the stand that he has taken within his personal
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career is beyond admirable, beyond courageous. And so I just wanted, Hector, you to be able to give
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a brief overview of your background and ultimately how you found your voice in this fight now.
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Yeah, first of all, thank you for having me on here. You know, it's an honor. Background about me,
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for now, I'm currently 39 years old. I did resign prior to the age of 50, which was not the plan.
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That's for the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, where I spent 16 years as an
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officer, a sergeant, and a lieutenant at two different prisons. Before that, I was in the army,
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deployed to Iraq. And yeah, I resigned on December 1st, 2022. Kind of on a whim. Once I got a view of the
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corruption, you know, there was a lot of things playing in that factor. And I mentioned before
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we started the show that I currently have a five-year-old daughter. She was four at the time.
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So that was a driving force. Of course. And Kelsey, very briefly, share who you are,
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what you have been working on, because the work that you have been doing with the Independent
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Women's Forum is remarkable. Well, thank you, Riley. We've worked together for a long time,
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and it's my honor to be alongside you on your own show now. So we embarked on this mini documentary
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series called Cruel and Unusual Punishment, the Male Takeover of Female Prisons. And in that,
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we are mostly telling the stories of the ways female inmates have been victimized, really left as prey
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at the whim of California lawmakers and decision makers who have opened the door for state prisons
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to allow men to transfer over to the women's prisons simply by declaring they feel like a woman.
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It's actually, it's insane. It's insanity. But it's actually quite devastating. And the stories we've
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gathered along the way have really come to, like, devastate me, quite frankly, because most of the
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women inside women's prisons come from very difficult backgrounds of sexual abuse and trauma.
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The vast majority of female inmates have histories of sexual abuse and trauma. What we are now doing
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is locking them behind closed doors, forcing them to sleep in the same very small living cells
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with violent, predatory male felons. They have had no voice in this policy change,
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and they have been abused in some of the cases we've collected. It's worse than abuse. They've
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actually been sexually violated and allegedly raped. And, you know, along the way of this storytelling
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journey of this series, we met Hector, and we are so grateful for his work and for the courage to use
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his voice. Before we met him, he had resigned, and he can get more into that. And
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the transgender prison policies were a big piece of the corruption he saw happening inside of there.
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And so we had to give him a platform to help him share his story so that Americans can understand
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the implications. And what's really interesting about Hector's perspective is that he was working
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inside men's prisons. And so he knows what type of men we're dealing with, who, many of whom are
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taking advantage of these policies to gain access to women's prisons. And so he's watching them get on
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the bus, knowing their backgrounds, knowing the trouble they've caused inside the men's prison,
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watching that bus pull away, and just living in fear that they're going to terrorize the female inmates.
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Insanity. We had Amy Ichikawa on the podcast before. Of course, this is a female formerly incarcerated
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inmate. She has done wonderful work in prison reform. I encourage everyone to go listen to that
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episode from her perspective of what's going on inside the women's prisons. But Hector, you know,
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your role as a correctional lieutenant inside the California men's prison system, you mentioned very
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briefly the corruption. But I mean, when was the first time you had heard of this kind of thing,
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at least in regard to the transgender policies, allowing men into women's prisons? What did this
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kind of corruption look like from your perspective? So you got to understand prison is a microcosm of
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society. So this was around 2015, because that's when I arrived and promoted to Richard J. Donovan
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Correctional Facility in San Diego. Immediately was transgender training. So since I said it's a
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microcosm of society, it's like at the same time that everything was happening out here in the
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community, it was kind of following suit behind prison walls. And we were in a classroom setting
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and the sergeant comes in, the investigative sergeant, mind you, which is supposed to be like a detective,
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which is the role of a detective. And he's like, hey, you guys have to refer to these inmates as
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the pronouns that they would like to be referred to. If not, you're going to get written up and in
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trouble. And that was the beginning. That was in 2015. And it just snowballed from there. I mean,
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people tried to, you know, kind of raise their hand and ask questions, and it was immediately shut
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down and kind of just, you know, do as you're told or face the consequences.
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Kelsey mentioned the types of men who would be transferring from the men's prisons to the
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women's prisons under the state's, you know, transgender prison policy. I mean, I would have
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my own imagination as to the types of men who would do this, who would identify as a woman by
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merely saying I am a woman, getting into women's prisons, I'm sure many times with ulterior motives.
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I mean, were these men oftentimes convicted of sexual crimes in the first place, ultimately,
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that put them in these men's prisons? So the name Tremaine Carroll comes to mind. He was a real
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problem child at Donovan State Prison. I avoided him like the plague because I knew of all the
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allegations, fake allegations, frivolous allegations he would make on staff members, so much so that
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everywhere he went, a camcorder had to follow him. And I had never seen that with any other inmate
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before. Basically, he had a bunch of good lawyers or lawyers in general, whether they were good or not,
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they were definitely winning against the state of California, the Department of Corrections,
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which pretty much scared the department into submitting to whatever inmate Carroll's needs were.
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And he identified as a female, and he did get housed at CCWF, Chowchilla, and he did impregnate
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a female inmate. He had been there for the last couple years, and it wasn't up until last week,
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right now we are in May. He got finally cell extracted from the woman's facility and transferred
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back into a male institution. When it comes to him, you know, I did a little research on his case.
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He was never convicted of a sexual offense. However, he was definitely arrested and charged.
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It just didn't get convicted in the court of law.
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Which sounds about right, California. But it's tragic that it takes a woman literally being
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probably raped and impregnated before they realize the harm and the severity that this is causing
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to women and to people in your position, correctional officers. It puts you in a really
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Yeah, sorry to cut you off. It's not that they didn't realize it. It's that they didn't care.
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You know, and I've said, this is something I identified. The managers and the administrators,
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the bosses in the California Department of Corrections are more concerned about their
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personal agendas, personal gain, and worrying about getting the next promotion than actually
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That's tragic. And it's seemingly not unique anymore. This idea of profit over people and
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immediate gratification and advancing these, you know, personal agendas or narratives. That seems
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to be the theme across many different realms. I guess my next question is, what about, you know,
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these people, these men who claim to be women? I mean, what about the surgeries there? Being in
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correctional facilities, being incarcerated, is this something that's allowed to happen in California
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or really anywhere across the nation? And if so, who's paying for it?
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100% it's happening. We taxpayers are paying for it. 100%. And then it started off not so drastic,
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right? Like I said, I would like to be called as Sally today. Okay, Sally, right? And then it,
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now let's get female hygiene. For a male inmate identifying as a female, let's get the, uh, the
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moomoo's, right? Somebody asked me what that is. That's kind of like a nightgown.
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A female nightgown. So you got male inmates wearing like these, uh, you know, you know how the,
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like the hospital gown for a female, how it looks. You got them walking around the yard. And for
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somebody that joined the prison system in 2006, that's, you know, it just looks odd and out of
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place to be seeing men, male inmates walking around and move in moomoo's and makeup, you know,
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blush lipstick, not to mention that can be an escape paraphernalia, you know, changing your
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identity and being able to walk out the front door if somebody is not privy to it. Um, and then of
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course the sexual realignment surgeries. Oh my goodness. Absolutely. 100%. Uh, there was one at
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Donovan state prison. Again, I did not work at a female prison, but I worked at Donovan that housed
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numerous transgender inmates. One got to go to, uh, Beverly Hills of all places on state time,
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state correctional officers escort, transporting them and got a surgery to go from a male parts
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to female parts came back and was bragging about how he was going to solicit his solicit himself
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on the yard for money with the other inmates. And then here's the caveat. There was complications
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with the surgery. So then he went ahead and sued the department for saying that they purposely,
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you know, botched the surgery. And it's just, uh, it's insanity is what you stated earlier.
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Is what was the, has the, the suit, what was the outcome of this? I imagine it's new.
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Oh, I see. I imagine California prison facilities. Uh, I imagine they'd like to settle.
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Oh, they all settle. They absolutely all settle for sure. 100%.
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I'll be interested to see what the outcome in this scenario is.
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I there's no doubt about that. Um, these men, okay. So you did, you were a large part in,
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in transferring these men to the women's facilities. Um, I mean, was there ever any behind the scenes
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conversations of, you know, any insight as to whether or not these were genuinely confused men
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at best or at worst? Did these men ever, I mean, admit to being manipulative and taking advantage of
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the system? Uh, there are some inmates that will blankly, um, will blankly, uh, brag about manipulating
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the system. You know, uh, the PRIA, the prison rape elimination act. That's a big deal. That's
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a federal law where every peace officer has to investigate, you know, an alleged rape in the
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prison. I can recall when I was a Sergeant at Donovan prison and an inmate claimed that he was
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raped by his cellmate. We have to take the, both the suspect and the victim at separate times to
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outside hospitals to go get the SART examination. That's all cost costing money, resources, time,
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energy, and, uh, comes back. And the, the inmate straight up tells me, nah, he didn't rape me.
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We just broke up. That's my boyfriend. I thought I'd get back to him.
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You gotta understand, man, I'm level headed. I'm coming. I have common sense. And just hearing
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that it doesn't sit well with me. No, how could it? And so Kelsey, I mean, I wanted to ask you,
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um, protecting women's spaces, standing up for women. Uh, we see the outright violation of single
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sex spaces from women's sports to locker rooms, to sororities, to of course, prisons, um, what you
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all have been exposing. The degree to which these spaces are being violated, especially in prisons.
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I mean, do you see state or federal lawmakers stepping up to take action? Or do you think it's
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going to take more women being impregnated, being raped, being harmed, um, being, you know,
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facing retaliation for not complying with this? Do you think that's what it's going to take before
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these lawmakers on either side of the aisle ultimately step up?
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Sadly, I have no doubt there's going to be more female victims before any of this
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comes to an end. And to tease some upcoming videos and work we have in this series, there are even
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worse allegations than we've put out thus far. And again, this does include alleged rapes, um,
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on behalf of men who identify as women. Um, these were actually, since embarking on this docu series,
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um, female inmates are getting more courageous. We need more Riley Gaines out there. And to your
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credit, Riley, you using your voices, inspiring more women to find their own, but that's not easy
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to do when you're living behind bars and you feel like you have no voice and the entire system
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is working against you. But what we have to remember is yes, these women were convicted
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and they are serving a sentence, but they were not convicted to cruel and unusual punishment,
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which is exactly what this policy is forcing women to live in, in, uh, be at risk living with
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biological men. That is the very definition of cruel and unusual punishment. And that is not what they
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were sentenced to for so long. These men have been entering women's prisons and nobody's been doing
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a thing. Nobody's the public in a way, wasn't ready to have this conversation. I'm really grateful that
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we're able to have it now. And Riley, your work is a part of that. Um, because for a while people were
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in, even in denial that like detransitioners even existed. And the, you know, everybody thought if you
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don't go along with sort of the pronoun game and the transgender policies, you're not compact,
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you're not a compassionate human being. Well, where's the compassion for the female inmates
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who suffer from histories of actual rape and abuse, who are now being forced to sleep inside a living
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cell with a biological male. It's about time we all take a step back and look at the implications of
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these policies and find our compassion for the true victims in it all. And regarding how all this
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is going to come to an end, you know, the first step is making the public understand the implications,
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sharing these stories, um, having people like Hector take a step back, take a massive career risk
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and a risk for his entire family, giving up his stable livelihood in order to speak the truth
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about what's happening. Because unfortunately, um, you know, when, once you're working inside the
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prison system, we don't, we haven't been able to find anybody willing to go on the record about,
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um, what's happening because they all think they're going to lose their jobs into their right to fear
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that because they might lose their jobs if they do speak on the record. Uh, but we, we need to share
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these stories and then obviously pressure lawmakers to right these wrongs. There's nothing compassionate.
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There's nothing right about these policies happening in California, not just in California.
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Transgender identified inmates are kind of infiltrating women's prisons across the country
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quietly. It's happening. Um, and we really need to put a stop to it. Of course, you know,
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this issue is far bigger than that. You know, the Biden administration just recently perverted
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title nine. Um, and so, you know, we definitely have an uphill battle, but I, I do have faith,
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uh, that this insanity will come to an end and we will be able to protect women and girls and women's
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faces. But again, not before there's more victims, sadly.
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I think it's a really good point. You know, you mentioned the language corruption and how they
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use words like compassionate or inclusive. Let's, let's remember why the women's facility was,
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was ever created. It was designed explicitly to be exclusive. Inclusion is not always a good thing.
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And to your point about the risk that people like Hector, uh, people in his same position might face
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or, or certainly do face. I understand. I mean, it's real. Um, thinking back to when I was in San
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Francisco, uh, ultimately being barricaded in a room, being held hostage for ransom by a bunch of
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crazy protesters. Uh, the officers, the police officers in the room told me they couldn't do
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anything because they weren't allowed to. They weren't allowed to do any, anything they said
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that made them seem as, as anything other than an ally to that community because they would lose
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their jobs. And remember, this is the same community who's on the other side of the door
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where again, myself and the police officers were being held for ransom who called these officers
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racist pigs for protecting a white girl like me. That's who they sided with rather than, then I guess,
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fulfilling their most basic duty and ensuring my safety. Uh, they failed tremendously on just about,
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every account. Hector, you know, you mentioned retiring early. You mentioned the pension that
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you have now given up. Uh, you were really the first whistleblower, uh, from the correctional world
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to speak out and resign in protest of the transgender policies, among other things. I want you to, to really
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outline the sacrifices that you had to make. And I guess, you know, why aren't others willing to do the
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same thing? I imagine you hear from your colleagues, um, from people who, who you used to work with.
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And I, I would imagine there's a lot who are in total agreeance with you and support the actions
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that you've taken. Thousands, 30,000, 32,000 to be exact on my YouTube count. But, uh,
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yeah, it was not easy at all. Um, one of the major hurdles was that my own father was a correctional
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officer who started in 1993. So you got to understand me telling him, I'm thinking of
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quitting did not sit well with him. He has that old school mentality of, Hey, you're going to do
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your time. You're going to work. You're going to retire and you're going to ride it out like
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everybody else. But he didn't see what I was seeing. He didn't experience what I was experiencing.
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And I told him I can't, it doesn't sit well with, there's something definitely conflicting
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with inside of me. Uh, once I got the blessings from, uh, my father-in-law, my wife's father,
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I, um, told him thinking about quitting. He's like, all right, you know, I support you in everything
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you do. That's all I needed really, because he trusted me with his daughter and his granddaughter.
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I had to work behind the scenes. Uh, like, like, um, Kelsey stated earlier, they will retaliate
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against you. They will harass you. They will bully you. And if they don't fire you for speaking out,
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they will look at everything you do under a microscope till they find out you messed up and
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they're going to fire you. And it's going to look like they fired you for something else as opposed
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to speaking out. That's part of the corruption. So what did I walk away from? I walked away from
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$157,000 a year. That's how much I made in my last year while I was employed. Um, still have,
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I still have had a mortgage still do. Luckily I didn't lose anything. I did have to struggle. Let me tell
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you how to struggle. I did have to get two jobs. And that's kind of the first time I'm saying is I
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had to get two jobs, security guard jobs when I bounced to, uh, to kind of make, make ends meet.
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But I instantly felt the relief, um, gone. When I turned 50 years old, I can collect that retirement
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that I put in for it. I just got to wait till I'm 50. So it's still sitting there for me.
00:24:00.880
Well, that's a blessing. Um, again, it's, it's incredibly admirable. There are so many people who
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actually I would argue really, uh, 99% of people, if not more who would not be willing to, to put
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morality, their morals, what is ethical, what is right, what is fair, what is just above money
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above, um, you know, these, like I said, these, these things that immediate gratification,
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but you did. And we've asked on this show, uh, many times, you know, the question of where are
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the men, there have been a distinct lack of men's voices in the effort to protect women's spaces,
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women's sports. Um, I think for a couple reasons, uh, I won't go into necessarily why I think, but
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I wanted to ask you, you know, where are all the men in this fight and why did you ultimately decide
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to speak out and share your story, uh, along with the independent women's forum?
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Um, so I, I credit my leadership, my values, my honor to my leaders in the army. When I joined in
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2002, I credit, I was young, impressionable, 17 years old. And I had men, literally, literal men,
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heroes, legends who would later go on and get killed in action in Iraq. And that even would hurt me even
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more. So I feel I have an obligation to live every day in their honor and to do the best that I can
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because they're no longer here to do that. So that was my role model, right? That was my, um, initial
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as a young youth, right? Um, you're right. Not that many people, nobody, I don't want to say nobody
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cause I did it. There are a lot of people that are not willing to sacrifice some money, the title,
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the security, and I'm not knocking them. It's like a hamster wheel that once you're on it,
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it's almost impossible to get off. You know, what I did was I almost pulled off the impossible.
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Well, I did pull off the impossible. I'm still here right now. I thought they would have thrown
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me in prison for making something up by now, but it's been a year and a half. I didn't put it past
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them. Hey, and don't put it past them yet. But, uh, but, uh, no, it's cool. Like I don't care about
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money. I've been poor before I've been living in my truck. When I came back from Iraq, I was suffering
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from post-traumatic stress disorder. My parents kicked me out. I don't care about titles or
00:26:31.900
positions or powers because my sergeants in the army showed me, Hey, these sergeant stripes don't
00:26:37.720
mean anything, right? I will have, if I got a problem with you, you're going to know it. And
00:26:41.500
these, these stripes aren't going to stop me. So that's what it boiled down to. It boiled down to
00:26:46.540
nah, my, my honor, my honor is I'm not going to stay quiet anymore. And it took a lot. It took the
00:26:54.540
whole COVID pandemic of wearing masks every day. The, the, um, you know, the vaccinations,
00:27:01.400
it took a lot for me to break the straw that broke the camel's back, you know, because I'm very, um,
00:27:08.220
resilient and it wasn't, it took a lot. It took a lot for me to, uh, make that decision. And it was
00:27:16.900
a risk. Oh man, it was a risk. So where are the men today? They've just been, man, it's almost like
00:27:23.240
brainwashing because especially if you're younger, what you have in front of you is a cell phone.
00:27:28.600
You have Tik TOK, Instagram, Twitter, YouTube. And at the time you had the media stations pumping
00:27:35.780
out what they want to pump out, right? Whatever is the agenda. So they're learning, right? Hey,
00:27:42.040
uh, be more feminine, be more soft, you know, this and that, but no, I'm old school. I'm old school
00:27:48.700
so much so that in my head, I think I'm a Spartan type of like mentality. Like, you know what I mean?
00:27:53.740
Provide, protect like a caveman. Yeah. I'm very respectful. I'm a gentleman. I walk on the right
00:27:58.460
side of the street. I opened the car door, but I think that's what a man is. Uh, provide, protect
00:28:03.680
for sure. Yeah. And I'm bringing it back. You best believe I'm bringing it back.
00:28:07.300
That makes my heart so happy to hear because I can tell you, my dad is one of those people too.
00:28:13.680
And I accredit so much of my leadership to being raised by, by parents who very much followed that
00:28:19.800
same mentality. I have very strong parents, parents who taught me how to be, of course,
00:28:24.340
an independent thinker, uh, how to stand up for myself, call out an injustice when I see it,
00:28:29.780
but I couldn't be more grateful for that. Uh, and yeah, to your point, that's often labeled as,
00:28:35.380
as toxic masculinity. No, our nation is suffering because we are lacking in the strong man department,
00:28:43.060
but people like you give me hope. And you mentioned you're a girl dad, right? So, um,
00:28:48.940
you're fighting for your daughter, five years old, right? You're fighting so she can have and play
00:28:54.780
fair sports. So you don't have to worry about a man going into her bathroom. I imagine if one did,
00:29:00.780
I can imagine what the outcome might look like on your side of things.
00:29:06.220
For sure. Yeah. Um, and I see, I see the big picture now cause I've stepped back and I have
00:29:11.580
like a bird's eye view. It was that driving force dating back to you, those years back we can
00:29:16.780
pinpoint maybe 2012, 2013, 2014, when the world started getting weird. Um, and that toxic masculinity,
00:29:23.160
but it did a number. Let me tell you, it did a number. Um, I think, I think we're at a turning
00:29:29.880
point. I think we're at a turning point because more people like myself and others are, are
00:29:34.820
sacrificing everything they have utilizing a platform on social media. And that's like a
00:29:42.460
caveat right there and getting to getting through to the masses and it's growing daily and people
00:29:48.300
are addicted to this truth. Well, we've been denied it for so long. Yeah. Well, if I can jump in on
00:29:55.920
what Hector just said, how he's breaking through the masses. I mean, the whole point is that these
00:30:01.340
women are being silenced because the mainstream journalists didn't bother to go in and ask the
00:30:07.180
female inmates, what are the implications of these policies? You know, they didn't bother to go
00:30:11.920
interview the, the female athletes who are losing opportunities or getting hurt because of biological
00:30:19.140
men. And they weren't asking the young girls if they were comfortable having a biological man in their
00:30:25.660
locker room. And in fact, during the research for this project, we came across, uh, uh, a couple of,
00:30:33.400
um, news reports. There was one NBC news did a report on the implications of this policy,
00:30:40.640
all from the perspective of the men of the transgender identified men. And so they actually went so far it to
00:30:49.480
go interview, spend time in the prisons. And not once did those reporters apparently stopped to
00:30:55.540
turn their heads and ask the female inmates, how do you feel about this? It was just a total puff piece
00:31:02.000
based on the trans identified inmates, which is misogyny. I mean, let's just acknowledge that
00:31:08.740
they're only reporting on the men, not, um, not giving the women a voice, a platform to share how
00:31:17.100
they feel. And again, they've been silenced. And that is why it's so important to cut through the
00:31:21.360
narrative, um, to use different media platforms. It's the only way we actually can give these women
00:31:28.620
a voice because sadly the mainstream journalists don't care. And that's a common theme. Uh, you look
00:31:36.020
at the IOC for example, or the NCAA, uh, nowhere have they invited women to the table to speak to how
00:31:42.600
these policies affect women. Charlie Baker even admitted it in front of either the U S Senate or,
00:31:48.560
or in front of Congress. I can't remember which one, but you know, he was asked, have women been
00:31:54.000
able to weigh in? Well, no, we haven't really taken into account how women feel. I mean, he, he blatantly
00:32:01.280
outright admitted it. Uh, and again, same thing with the IOC, uh, right now their policy or the science,
00:32:07.560
the research that they are using to shape their transgender policy as a whole is, um, a self-reported,
00:32:16.560
um, study done by Joanna Harper, who is a male who identifies as a woman who sits on the board or
00:32:23.540
whatever governing faction of the IOC. Uh, it's ridiculous. Kelsey, very briefly, you know, we
00:32:31.500
have mentioned several times the docu-series that the Independent Women's Forum is doing called
00:32:36.520
Cruel and Unusual Punishments. They are amazing, amazing, amazing. I mean, 10, 15 minutes, probably not
00:32:43.360
even that, little clips and stories of people like Hector, people like, again, Amy, who have been on,
00:32:50.260
um, and what they're seeing inside these prisons, what they're being forced to do, what they're being
00:32:54.960
asked to do, um, the manipulation behind it all. It is so powerful. It is so important. Um, I mean,
00:33:02.480
what can you tell us? Any sneak peeks about upcoming releases? What, what are you guys doing on this front?
00:33:08.180
Yeah, we have more coming. The series is only, you know, just getting started in some ways. Um, I,
00:33:16.460
you know, it's hard to get excited about what's coming because what's coming is more tragic and
00:33:22.300
horrific stories of female inmates being harassed and or sexually violated, uh, at the hands of men who
00:33:31.440
should not be living with them. Um, and so, yes, these are free available at IWF.org or on YouTube,
00:33:39.960
Cruel and Unusual Punishment. We are so grateful to, um, you for helping give these women, these female
00:33:48.000
inmates a voice and to Hector for, for his courage, for his values. It kind of makes me emotional listening
00:33:56.840
to him because I do feel like there is a severe lack of strong, moral male voices who are willing
00:34:06.100
to step up, be a voice to protect women and girls, to protect our spaces and really just to have our
00:34:12.760
backs. That's, that's kind of all we're asking for. I think we are all strong, independent women
00:34:17.780
willing and able to lead this battle, but we do appreciate men having our backs and Hector,
00:34:23.200
thank you for that. Thank you. Of course. Hector, I want to give you the opportunity. Um, the shirt
00:34:28.560
that you're wearing, where can people get it? I, I think this is from your own merch line. It's
00:34:35.240
amazing. If, if you don't have your video on, it says in God, we trust. And then of course,
00:34:39.920
in little letters below it, it says not government, which, um, I think more and more people are feeling
00:34:45.720
confident enough to wear a shirt like that. Um, where can we get that? Uh, project mat store.com.
00:34:53.440
He's a guy that does all my apparel. Amazing. Well, we are just so grateful for the sacrifices
00:34:59.860
that you have made the stand that you have taken, because of course you're defending your daughter,
00:35:04.160
uh, but you're defending so many girls and women, really humanity as a whole. You know,
00:35:10.280
we talk so much about girls and women, but this is, this is broader than that. This is about
00:35:14.540
protecting the sanctity of, of womanhood and manhood. Um, certainly both sexes are at jeopardy
00:35:21.020
here. Um, is there anything else you want to add? Any other, um, little pieces of, of information,
00:35:29.360
how we can support, uh, both you and of course the Independent Women's Forum and their cruel and
00:35:34.880
unusual punishment docuseries? I would say even goes bigger than that. I would just say it goes, uh,
00:35:40.600
good versus evil period. Um, and this is the way I see it.
00:35:47.580
It's so true. 110%. I, um, could not agree more. And again, I think the majority of American people
00:35:54.260
could not agree more. Um, thank you guys. This inspires me. It really does to see strong,
00:36:01.580
strong leaders, um, brave people. That's, that's a rarity. Uh, telling the truth in a time of deceit is a
00:36:09.400
revolutionary act. And that is certainly what you have done, Hector. And of course, Kelsey,
00:36:13.860
uh, and the Independent Women's Forum by amplifying his story and his voice. So thank you guys.
00:36:22.540
I don't know how any person could listen to Hector's story. Again, Amy Ichikawa, she's been on the podcast
00:36:29.280
before. I encourage you to go watch her episode. I don't know how anyone could hear these stories of
00:36:35.220
inmates and correctional officers, people involved in the prison system in California or, or, uh, really
00:36:43.280
in states across the nation now where these policies have been implemented and not, I mean, what a tear up.
00:36:50.800
It's heartbreaking, uh, that someone like Hector had to take the stand that he did, but we could not be
00:36:56.180
more proud. We could not be more grateful for him and his voice. Uh, make sure you are supporting him.
00:37:02.840
I encourage everyone to go to IWF.org, watch the Cruel and Unusual, um, Punishment docu-series.
00:37:10.400
They're doing phenomenal work, uh, highlighting these stories, spreading awareness, because
00:37:15.580
ultimately awareness has to be spread if we want these policies to be changed. It shouldn't have to
00:37:22.340
take more and more unfortunate circumstances before our lawmakers do the right and fair and just and
00:37:28.820
moral thing like Hector has done. Um, but again, thank you guys for tuning in. Uh, make sure you like
00:37:35.000
and subscribe anywhere where you get your podcasts. You can check us out at outkick.com and we will see you