I am amazed that an attorney would ask me to divulge this kind of highly personal information in a public forum when I am clearly trying to be discreet.

I'm not your attorney; I don't owe you a duty of confidentiality. You're not being discreet at all; you brought up your prior incarceration, presumably in the hopes that it would help you prevail in this discussion. By so doing, you opened that door and made the issue relevant.