You’ve heard the joke that sex-life in prison is so good for gay men that one would even consider committing crimes intentionally.

There’s actually some truth to that joke.

I’ve reported before that the Sheriff Lee Baca runs a fairly progressive jail in Los Angeles. I’m sure the inmates have some complaints. The jail has two dorms that it designates for its 300 gay inmates.

The “gay” dorms are unique to Los Angeles because it’s the only jail facility where inmates are segregated by sexual orientation. It’s completely voluntary. What is also unique is that staff distribute condoms to the inmates. This is also very unique because, under California law, inmates may not have sex inside the jail. The purpose of this law is to prevent rape, as there is no such thing as consensual sex inside the jail.

The dorms are so popular that even straight inmates line up to get in. The guards have had to develop a test in order to screen out straight men who pretend to be gay so that they can get into the gay dorms. This is because the gay dorms are safe from violence and sexual attacks.

Five years ago, however, the jail noticed that these gay men had a 90 percent recidivism rate, which is substantially higher than the percentage for straight men. Jail officials reported that it was like a revolving door. Gay inmates would leave and would wind up back in jail. Is this because the jail is so accommodating?

Two straight deputies discovered that the gay men who returned to jail lacked education, marketable skills and had drug and alcohol problems that prevented them from leading productive lives. Many of the men didn’t have a high school education or any real marketable skills. Many didn’t have a supportive family or partner.

So five years ago, the deputies enlisted the help of some gay businesses and started an education program designed to provide gay inmates in the gay dorm with a high school diploma or GED. The program is called Social Mentoring Academic and Rehabilitative Training program (SMART).

In the five years it has been in operation, the recidivism rate for gay inmates has dropped from 94 percent to 30 percent. The average repeat rate is 65 percent, so now, GLBT prisoners are returning less frequently to jail than straight inmates.

Los Angeles County sheriff Lee Baca told The Advocate that he sees “education as a tool to self-acceptance. Once a person does something as significant as getting a high school diploma, they know they can do productive things. I see this as crime prevention.

Baca’s deputies, Randy Bell and Bart Lanni, started the program and have ensured its success. They got the Hacienda La Puente Unified School District, which already has a contract with the county to teach high school courses to inmates, to teach courses for the gay inmates.

Bell and Lanni seem to take pride in the success of the program. Not all gay inmates succeed in it. But those who do are grateful for the chance.

Straight inmates also try to get into the gay dorms and participate in the SMART program. However, Bell and Lanni seem to have developed a screening system to keep the straight inmates out. One of their screening devices is similar to a game of “gay Jeopardy,” where they hold up certain colored hankies and ask the inmates what sexual meaning they have.

Bell and Lanni described the average inmates as men in their 30s and 40s. They indicated that the average is not the “typical good looking gay man” one might see in West Hollywood. Rather they indicated that most of the inmates were the “outcasts” of the gay community.

They also noted the crimes that landed gay prisoners in jail consisted largely of drug-related offenses and non-violent crimes.

There is little in criminal justice literature about gays and lesbians and crimes. Much of this is because homophobia has clouded any rational study of the topic. The classic criminal justice texts treated homosexuality as “deviant” behavior. And, of course, homosexuals are, yes, at a higher percentage, child molesters, exhibitionists and voyeurs. And most females who commit any kind of crime are, naturally, lesbians.

The reality, of course, is that gays and lesbians are less prone to be child molesters. They make up a larger percentage of the jail population not because they are more apt to commit crime, but because as juveniles, a sizeable chunk of GLBT youth are abandoned or otherwise abused by their families. Many barely finish high school, let alone go to college. Many turn to crime (e.g., drug dealing, shoplifting) as a means of surviving on the streets. Without an education, crime becomes a profession and a vicious cycle.

The SMART program is an extraordinary example of what can be done to change lives.