together, but during our stay at holman they were separated. mcmillen had requested to be put in administrative segregation. he had had an operation recently when we encountered him, and he was having i guess a lover s quarrel with his current boyfriend, and because he was afraid it might escalate into something violent, he had himself locked up. the person that i was with, we was on the verge of separating, but they didn t want to, and it got to the point where it started being threats made and kenyatta had indicated to us that he had been involved with a number of men at the prison romantically. he seemed to rely more and more on tommy as a big brother figure. i mean, he got to make his own decisions, but now before he do any of that he ll ask what i think about it. and i ll give my opinions. and when we sit down and agree upon it, it s going to be whether he want to deal with the dude or he don t. as simple as that.
serving life without parole for murder. i love cheese because he always been there for me, no matter what, and he ain t never changed or turned his back on me on nothing. mcmillen and tunstall had been friends for about three years when we met them at holman. it done got to the point to where it s like if i m thinking about something, before i can get it out, he can say it. and it s vice versa. do you identify as gay? do me do i do? yes. you re gay? yes. i was fascinated by the friendship between kenyatta and tommy. kenyatta is openly gay and tommy was openly straight. and it seemed to me that their friendship was truly platonic but very bonded. they were obviously an amazing support system for each other. we mainly came across each other going through the struggle. helping each other out and stuff like that. you in here by yourself, you re going to have to look for somebody to confide in. mainly they got to be on the
family kidnapped just seconds later hughes lashed out at an inmate in a nearby cell. man, why don t you shut the [ bleep ]! knock your teeth out. all the dudes that were kicked out of dorms for it. because they knew you and you never got caught. but i know why you re there. because they don t give a [ bleep ] against you. it soon became clear that mark hughes was just reacting angrily to everything and everyone around him. he s crazy. i ve got to get in the cell and that s redundant. then he turned all his rage toward us. respect. and just started lashing out at us. take the [ bleep ] off of me. respect. dr. matias, again, with his very caring and kind way, completely defused the situation. get you stabilized, take your meds. yeah. because it s just going to cause more problems. you re going to start getting write-ups.
but as far as if he do get a relationship with anybody, then i know what type of individual he is, and he don t get in no trouble, he don t bother nobody then nobody ain t got no business putting their hands on him. i get offensive like that. having a relationship with gay men or straight men here? straight. straight guys? yeah. they gay too, though. actually, in their mind they re just gay for that minute. after it s over with, they ain t gay no more. but wait till the next time, then they re gay again for another minute. as for their future, both men were serving life sentences. though tunstall would someday qualify for parole, mcmillen had life without. i know i m going back to the free world one day. so you know, the only thing i can do is make the best out of my situation. so i kick it around individuals with minds on the street. that way i won t fall victim to whatever is going on inside these walls.
my initial concern was they were making fun of him either for being interviewed or because of his relationship with kenyatta, and then i realized he just took it in stride, almost seemed pleased and proud about the situation, and then just kept going. if someone walks up here and calls him your boyfriend or girlfriend or something like that, how do you react? it wouldn t matter. i don t react on stupidity. tommy, would you two be friends on the street? yeah. yeah. his homosexuality is not a factor? no. i don t look at individuals by what they do or what they is or what they done did. i mean, we re all humans. through all my relationships that i ve been with with guys, he s been tight, he s been right there supportive of me. we ve been close. real tight. real friends. partners. would you say you love him? as a friend, yeah. normally, mcmillen and tunstall live in the dorms