california state prison. corcoran. when we interviewed these men, our crew was required to wear stab-proof vests. one of the corcoran inmates we san down with was christian knighten. nobody describes the daily pressures, the ups and downs of being a predator, like he does. >> it's seductive, you know what i mean? you can love the game, but the game loves nobody. you know what i mean? you could sit there and give it your all and think everyone's supporting you, and before you know it, just like that. get your throat cut. seen it, done it. murder and attempted murde crimes he committed at the los angeles county jail while awaiting trial on an outside murder/robbery charge that he was convinced would send him to prison for life. but when he went on trial for that original murder charge, something completely unexpected happened. >> they find me not guilty, and it righteously blew my mind. i had to laugh. the irony of it it was classic. >> knighten should have walked away as a free man, instead, he remained incarcerated unt

respect and don't cross those boundaries, we get treated just like anybody else. >> at california state prison corcoran we met three inmates living openly as homosexuals at what is considered one of the toughest and most violent prisons in the state. >> okay. if you could just state and spell your name for us. >> regina maiden. well, actually, reginald maiden. r-e-g-i-n-a-l-d. m-a-i-d-e-n. >> in this raw interview footage the three men discuss the possibility of attack and how they would respond. >> it's not being attacked. it's just being like -- you know, the proper word is stalked, harassed, because of rejection. you know, a lot of people here can't deal with rejection, especially coming from a transsexual. >> a lot of things people don't realize, we're men like them. we're just feminine. >> don't forget. women do kill. >> a lot of us don't put up with that and a lot of guys know that and a lot of guys that don't, so you know, when the ones don't, they end up getting beat up. >> and it makes them look bad on the yard. so that's why a lot of people do give homosexuals respect sometimes. they don't kn

california state prison, corcoran. never know it by talking to easley. >> i got it pretty good. it's all right. it's fine. this is something that i like doing, you know? it's kind of like a relaxation, you know? >> ernest had a legitimate job given to him by the administration in the kitchen, but he was smart in that he had figured out a way to have a little hustle on the side to make extra money. >> i usually charge, like a suit, a pair of pants is a suit, a shirt is a suit. i wash clothes. i don't wash boxers or socks. that's what i don't wash. you know, other than that i charge, you know, a dollar to wash, a dollar to iron their clothes. you'd be surprised. a lot of people, well men, they aren't really into washing or ironing, so i do it. >> one of the first things that struck me about ernest was he had a happiness about him you don't often see in a prison and then we came to find out why. >> well, i have a significant other. he's a very good person. you know? his name is robert. and he's a good man. you know? >> ea

. >> when we visited california state prison corcoran for "extended stay," we came upon clarence lees he was moving into a new cell with an old friend from the neighborhood. a place he might never see again. lee was a veteran of the crips street gang and is serving for murder. the majority of inmates in prison belong to gangs. >> welcome into our little casa. >> lee's old friend reginald maiden who preferred to be called terry was in a distinct minority. >> go to school together. help each other with schoolwork. go to chow together. i have no problem sitting with terry. i have no problem doing what it takes because i look at him as a human. i understand all of the things he went through. to others it seems like we're more than homies because they don't understand how long i've known terry. >> terry was a very overt transgender inmate. then we meet clarence who comes off as this very strong, straight-looking guy. and because terry was constantly running into problems with his cellmates, he needed protection, for lack of a better word, and clarence was willing to offer that for terry.

but this one yard at california state prison corcoran that's supposed to be gang-free. >> it's calledsitive needs yard, sny. it's where gang dropouts or sex offenders or high-risk inmates go for their own safety. but even here gangs can spring up, and we found one of the most unorthodox gangs. they call themselves gbg, the gay boy gangsters. >> it's a group of men that are gay, that are not transgender, and who are gay men who like men who do not want to be a woman. okay. that's it. we're pretty thick actually. we're pretty much respected. we don't get into fights. we don't get into that sort of thing, but we have a pretty good following. we're just a group of people that are gay and stand for our own. >> clement, who prefers to be called wicked, is serving 20 years for three counts of robbery. and he's not the only gay boy gangster on the sensitive needs yard at corcoran. niclas turner, who goes by the name demon, told us the gbgs should not be taken lightly. >> we hurt anybody that -- inside the prison system, anybody that tries to forcefully take property or rape or in any way hurt

. >> during one of our shoots at california state prison corcoran, our crew barely got a glimpse of mansoned up his window. a recent mug shot shows how much he has aged since first coming to prison in 1971. but his artwork provides a unique insight into his life behind bars. >> here a scorpion that he's made. basically, taking thread from various types of items, socks and t-shirts and towel, he creates it and uses -- it looks like a marker to color it. this is probably one of the items that he makes the most of. scorpions and spiders. i would assume this is something like a harp. and he's made it out of toilet paper and newspaper. it looks like some dental floss, a small stick, and probably for the coloring, he use kool-aid. to get the coloring for it. >> why do you have it? >> he's not allowed to have it. occasionally, we go through and do cell searches and confiscate all items. he doesn't have a hobby card and other inmates try to sneak it out and put it on ebay and sell it. so we go in and dispose of it. >> how does he react when you take his stuff? >> sometimes he's passive. occasional

. >> in the exercise yard at california state prison corcoran, we met an inmate whose art is inspired last name for me. >> my name is kevin moore, m-o-o-r-e. >> what were you convicted for? >> i'm doing a parole violation for sales of marijuana. >> the yard is an interesting place because you never know who you're going to run into, you never know who you're going to talk to, you never know the personality, who they are. i kind of just started looking around and tried to find interesting-looking faces. i happened upon kevin moore. he started telling me that he's a rap artist. he is a ghost writer. >> i have a record deal waiting on me. death row records. for anybody, any rap fans that's listening, my akassassoon. and i got a demo coming out in a few months. if you're a rap fan, listen to it. >> when you start talking to inmates you are not sure what to believe. they start telling you these stories. you're kind of like say, all right. >> i have been a ghost writer in the rap industry for about 13 years. a lot of stuff i have written from behind these walls i have sold to other artists.

. >> we found an even more unlikely bond at california state prison corcoran. >> like anything.e and respect. it will treat you with love and respect back. >> we were out on the yard shooting. i looked over and saw these guys petting something. at first i thought it was a kitten. and it ended up it was a gopher that they had tamed. >> shampoo, little baths, and let him run around the cell, feed him apple, let us. take care of them. they're good little pets. >> like the best little companion i ever had. >> a lot of the guys we ran into probably have never had anybody to love or anything or anybody to love them. and when you run into somebed who is -- you know adopted a gopher and it gives them some sort of outlet for affection. it's got to be a good thing. >> but we found a very different case of inmate creature bonding inside california's san quentin prison. >> i'm mike miller my real name. and the staff here call me birdman of san quentin. >> the first day i got here at san quentin. the birds seemed to have flocked to me for some reason. and i don't know they probably think i a