Latest news with #trans
Daily Mail
4 days ago
- Daily Mail
Parents of trans teenager who killed himself sue 'slow and casual' police who failed to find him in time
The parents of a trans teenager who took his own life while on the NHS gender clinic waiting list are suing the 'slow and casual' police force who failed to find him in time. Jason Pulman, 15, was tragically found dead in a park in Eastbourne, East Sussex, in April 2022, having struggled with mental health problems as well as his gender identity. Described as a 'cheeky fun ball of energy', the talented artist was born as Jessica into a family who were frequently relocated by social services in order to try and keep them safe from his violent convict birth father. Last April, an inquest jury found that the youngster's emotional and mental needs were 'inadequately assessed and provided for' by multiple services, and that police 'responded inadequately' to him going missing. Now, Jason's mother Emily Pulman and stepfather Mark Pulman, are taking High Court legal action against Sussex Police over an alleged breach of human rights. Around 10 hours passed between the time that Jason was first reported missing to the force and when an officer visited the family home. Mr and Mrs Pulman have claimed that Sussex Police 'failed properly or at all to protect Jason against the risk of suicide' after he was graded only a 'medium risk'. They also believe that there could have been a 'real prospect of a different outcome' had there been a 'reasonable response' to Jason's disappearance. The devastated pair added that the force is 'flip-flopping' over its position and whether it has learned from Jason's death. Speaking about the 'devastating' inquest and legal battle that has succeeded her son's tragic death, Mrs Pulman, 39, has now urged the force to 'actually take accountability for what has happened and what went wrong'. She added: said: 'I think about Jason and how much he used to fight for things he believed in. He used to go to protests and research and get involved in different things because he wanted to make change.' 'I want to try and get some change for kids like Jason, as I know that that is what he would want as well. 'When I feel like quitting, I have got Jason's cheeky little head in my head, with his outfit, with all his badges on, saying 'you must fight for what you believe', and that is what gives me strength.' While Jason began identifying as a male aged around 14, he never received specialist gender dysphoria treatment due to assessment delays. His parents claim that their son received 'insufficient' mental health support. In the morning of April 19 2022, Mrs Pulman discovered her son was missing from his bed at the family home in East Sussex and immediately called the police. At the time, she informed a call handler that Jason was transgender, had previously self-harmed and attempted to take his own life, adding that he may also have taken public transport. The call handler graded Jason as medium-risk, however an officer did not look at the case for more than three hours after the first call. Mrs Pulman then made two further calls to the police, telling them that Jason had informed a friend he was travelling to London, most likely by train. But Jason remained graded as medium-risk. The British Transport Police (BTP) were not notified, and an officer did not attend the family's home for almost 10 hours after the first call. Around an hour after police visited the house, Jason was tragically found dead in nearby Hampden Park by a member of the public. Nick Armstrong KC, for both Mr and Mrs Pulman, said police knew or should have known that Jason 'represented a real and immediate risk of life-threatening harm', but instead their response was 'slow, and strikingly casual'. In a prevention of future deaths report last year, a coroner said Jason died 'potentially through his mental health and gender identity issues', and that it was 'also possible Jason may have been prevented from committing suicide' if the BTP was made aware that he was missing. In the run-up to his death, Jason was regularly self-harming and abusing drink and drugs, Mrs Pulman previously told Hasting Coroners Court. By early 2022, Jason's worsening behaviour, including shoplifting and being excluded from school for cannabis, meant the family knew he needed more significant psychiatric help. 'He needed more than just a conversation on the phone', Mrs Pulman told Assistant Coroner Michael Spencer in her witness statement. The family 'were done trying to get help from CAMHS (Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services)' and Jason himself thought it was 'pointless'. While the youngster had undergone a social transition successfully, he remained 'adamant' that he wanted to see doctors at the Gender Identity Development Service (GIDS) in order to 'feel better in his body', but did not have the chance before his death. GIDS, run by Tavistock and Portman NHS Foundation Trust, was shut in early 2024 following a series of scandals. The night before Jason disappeared from his bedroom, Mr Pulman thought he was 'off his face' so delayed a family conversation, over a glass of whisky they had found in his room, until the following day, Hastings Coroners Court previously heard. Describing Jason's death as an 'unimaginable tragedy', Mr Armstrong said that the young teenager was a 'source of unlimited joy', with a 'funny, mischievous, artistic and unconventional' personality. Nine days after Jason's death, then-chief superintendent Katy Woolford met with the Pulmans, informing them that they had done 'everything right' and acknowledging that there had been failings by the police. However, Mr Armstrong said that there had been a 'significant and distressing shift in the police's evidence' at Jason's inquest, with the force allegedly seeking to exclude evidence related to the meeting with Ms Woolford and claiming there was 'no arguable omission by anyone'. The force accepted the inquest findings, stating that its service 'fell below the standards expected'. However, Jason's parents claim it altered its stance again when the family threatened to bring legal action. Mr Armstrong said that the force's 'reversal and re-reversal' on its position was 'shameful', adding: 'The claimants do not know whether the defendant has or has not learned from the inquest process.' Mrs Pulman described the force's 'flip-flopping' as like 'torture', while Mr Pulman, 50, said that the pair had been left feeling 'let down, hurt and confused' by the actions of Sussex Police. He added: 'No amount of money, no apology, is going to make up for three years of what they've done, because that's long-term damage.' A Sussex Police spokesperson said: 'Our sincere condolences remain with Jason's family following their tragic loss; however, we are unable to comment further whilst legal proceedings are ongoing.' For confidential support, call Samaritans on 116 123, visit or visit
CBS News
4 days ago
- Health
- CBS News
Kaiser's pause on youth gender-affirming surgeries sparks divided protest in San Francisco
A tense and confrontational rally unfolded in San Francisco as trans supporters clashed with those who oppose gender affirming surgeries for children. This comes as Kaiser Permanente announced a pause in performing those surgeries for patients under 19. Protesters on both sides of the controversy came out with signs in hand outside the Kaiser facility and pharmacy on Geary Boulevard. Many protested peacefully, but others clashed with each other as some tried to cover up a protester's sign. Layla Jane was there to tell her personal story. "I began to think I could be trans when I was 12 years old," said Layla Jane. "I went to a Kaiser therapist and told her about these feelings and she immediately affirmed me and gave me a diagnosis of gender dysphoria." Layla Jane says her doctors didn't do anything to treat her underlying issues. She says she suffered from childhood sexual abuse and autism. "I took Lupron and testosterone at 12 years old," Layla Jane said. "A month after my 13th birthday, I had a double mastectomy at this very clinic." Layla Jane says based on her experience, she supports Kaiser's decision to end gender affirming surgeries for those 19 and younger. But some of the hospital staff at this rally say this is a huge setback for trans kids. "More and more every day, I put in this badge and I feel like I'm going to battle," said nurse Sydney Simpson. She says she's not just fighting for her patients, but also for herself. "I access my gender affirming care here at Kaiser," Simpson said. "I have a very close relationship with my doctor and those nurses, they are so lovely. So this absolutely breaks my heart. Not just for me and my patients but all of those practitioners who I know for a fact have nothing to do with this decision. Don't agree with this decision and now have their hands tied behind their backs." Simpson says Kaiser policies on gender affirming care were based on research conducted by its own foundation. She feels there's only one way to explain this policy change and asserts that it's purely political. "There's no new research. There's no new patient outcomes. There's no need for this, other than the Trump administration, the Department of Justice subpoenas. This is a response to intimidation," she said. This is Gideon Codding's first time at a protest. He says his daughter transitioned at the age of 11 and is now regretting her choice. "Every person in authority has failed them when they should have pumped the breaks, assured them and said, 'Hey, you're OK,' " he said. "Take some time, sort it out. Don't make any rash decisions." People like Codding feel it's important to let kids grow up first, and wait on making any life-altering changes until they're adults. "You know, no child is born in the wrong body," Layla Jane said. "Every child should be allowed to grow up whole and deserves adequate treatment for their underlying conditions."
CBC
7 days ago
- Health
- CBC
Healing and connection: Inside the Humble Lodge's two-spirit fasting camp
Social Sharing Dr. James Makokis is knee-deep in mud, water and frogs. The nehiyô (Plains Cree) two-spirit physician from Saddle Lake Cree Nation wields an axe, leading a group of helpers through the muck. They're gathering willows to bring back to tapahtêyimôkamik — the Humble Lodge — a project Makokis leads near Pigeon Lake in central Alberta, which aims to create inclusive ceremonies for trans and two-spirit youth. "This is one of the only spaces where two-spirit and trans folks and their families and allies can come and be in a safe space," he said. "It's exciting to see people coming back to who they are, and who we are as a people." Coming out, and coming of age Makokis started the Humble Lodge with researchers Lana Whiskeyjack, James Knibb-Lamouche and Amanda Almond. Once a year, they hold a two-spirit fasting camp, an inclusive rite of passage ceremony created with and for 2SLGBTQ+ Indigenous youth. "Rites of passage are held when people go through puberty," said Makokis. "To acknowledge that transition time between childhood to adulthood." For years, many Indigenous people have lacked access, or even knowledge of these kinds of ceremonies, he said, and it's been more difficult for 2SLGBTQ+ people. The practice aims to build strength, resilience and self-esteem, as well as a connection to community. Makokis says these coming-of-age ceremonies are often structured by gender. For example, different sweat lodges are built for men and women, and the tradition is based on a binary. At the Humble Lodge, these rites are open to all identities and their families. "They can dress how they want, they can sit on whatever side of the lodge that they want — and they fully are celebrated with all of their gifts and responsibilities that they have as tastawiyiniwak, the in-between people," said Makokis. This is the second year they've held a two-spirit fasting camp in this location and the number of participants has doubled. There are 12 fasters, ranging in age from 11 to 66. "That really speaks to the need, of how desperate it is for this type of space to be created all across the country," he said. A four-day fast The camp starts on a Saturday in July, when participants, helpers and community members arrive on the land northeast of Pigeon Lake. It was donated in 2024 by a B.C. woman who saw Makokis's call out to the community. "We needed 160 acres of land with trees and water and preferably mountain views. So we got, you know, two out of the three things," he laughs. WATCH | Making the rite of passage accessible to every Indigenous person: Making the rite of passage accessible to every Indigenous person 13 hours ago A camp in Alberta is working to inspire a renewal of rite of passage ceremonies by making them accessible to trans and two-spirit Indigenous people. CBC's Paige Parsons was invited to Humble Lodge to learn more about the experience that participants describe as life-changing. On Sunday, the helpers gather willows and build the sweat lodge and fire for the week's ceremonies. The fast participants make offerings, carefully tying hangings made of willow they will take into the forest that will carry their prayers. They consume gallons of vegetable juice, coconut water and sports drinks, to prepare physically for four days without food and water. On Monday morning, everyone wakes up early. A crowd gathers around the fire next to the camp kitchen. Participants are allowed to bring only what they can carry into the forest. Warren Isbister-Bear has Ikea bags stuffed with tarps, a sleeping bag, his drum and the handmade willow offerings he brought with from Saskatoon. "For me I'm taking in my prayers," he said. Isbister-Bear is in his early 40s and two-spirit from Ahtahkakoop Cree Nation in Saskatchewan. He came last summer with his husband Osemis to participate as helpers, before he decided to undergo the fast himself. "Growing up in a community that has had that [ceremonial piece] cut off, I think I'm at a point in my life when I really want to connect back to that and step into the role of two-spirit people," he said. "Our communities are suffering, our families are suffering now. It's a way for me to, let's say be the change you want to see." Isbister-Bear is one of many fasters who are older and are now taking part in the ceremony that they could not access in their teen years. A chance to reconnect Chase Willier, 66, is a Sixties Scoop survivor with connections to Treaty 6 and Treaty 8 territory. He came from Vancouver to participate in this ceremony on the land where he was born. "This is my territory," he said. "And it's taken a whole lifetime to be here." Willier is trans and involved in advocacy work on the West Coast. While he's fasted for ceremony before, this community and the work happening here feel different. "I'm learning about inclusion in a very different way," he said. "In a more honourable way and a respectful way." The youngest participant this summer is Makokis's 11-year-old nephew Atayoh. While he has yet to go four days, it's his second year entering the forest with his mother, Janice. They will fast for one night together. "It's very rare for children his age to be going out there fasting," said Janice. "We started to prepare him, so that when he does have to [go out and do his rites of passage] it's a seamless transition." Atayoh spends early Monday packing his bag with his mother, quietly preparing for the experience. When asked how he felt about last year, he whispered, "happy." The hope is that over time, this camp will reach younger generations and ensure they have access to inclusive ceremonies when they most need it. The ability to sit with yourself and find your centre is essential, said Makokis. "And when that doesn't happen, we see some of the challenges, especially with trans and two-spirity youth who experience higher rates of suicidality or self-harm, or mental health issues like anxiety and depression," he said. This rite of passage is meant to introduce young Indigenous fasters to Miyo-pimâtisiwin, the Cree idea of living the good life. "This work is lifesaving. It's transformational," said Makokis. Living the good life On Monday morning, fasters enter the sweat lodge together. There is a berry ceremony, before they walk down one of three forest paths for male, female and two-spirit identifying participants. For four days, they live in the bush and sleep in a structure they make out of willows and tarps. They bring medicines and drums in with them to support their prayers, and are visited during the day by Makokis and others. Part of that is a health check where Makokis leans into his training as a physician. This year, he also has a medical resident keeping an eye on the fasters. They're available at all hours, in case something happens. It's this walking between the world of Western medicine and returning traditional health systems to communities that has become Makokis's life's work. "Most non-Indigenous people in Canada don't know our health system and the beauty of it, which takes place in nature far away from what they would normally see," said Makokis. "The cool thing about our way of life is that it inherently promotes healing, wellness, community, healing, strength, relationships. All of which strengthen and empower someone to be able to make good decisions, and to feel a sense of belonging." They are who they are The fasters leave the forest early on Friday morning and enter the sweat lodge together before they come out to reconnect with family, friends and loved ones for a feast. Dishes upon dishes are piled high on plates, each representing a loved one who has died, and the entire camp joins in to help eat every bite of food. Everything from pemmican and moose-nose soup, ramen and popcorn chicken. Isbister-Bear feels transformed. "Life changing," he said. "I'm just trying to, I'm trying to catch up to it." Isbister-Bear and the other fasters close their rite of passage saying "niya oma niya", or I am who I am in Cree. They yell it as loud as they can four times, surrounded by the community cheering them on. "Sâkihitowin, in Cree that's love," says Isbister Bear. "It's that kinship, that bond that we don't even have to be connected through relation, but we're connected through ceremony." "Sometimes we go our whole lives searching for that connection. I think I found that here." Those words resonate with Chase Willier, who emerges from four days on his own territory renewed. "I am who I am, but I'm a full human being here," he said. "As a young person struggling through my life and going through a lot of stuff — that I think there's a real almost a completion, a wholeness that all these things are finally integrating into my being in a very deep, deep way." "I'm home. My spirit recognizes my ceremony, my language, everything." The camp ends with a gifting ceremony, where fasters are presented with handmade quilts donated by Calgarian Cheryl Arksion, a non-Indigenous quilter who heard about the Humble Lodge through social media and wanted to get involved. The community exchanges blankets, earrings, handmade friendship bracelets and stickers– connecting and thanking each other for their presence before a gratitude song is sung, and it's all over for this year. But Willier will carry this week with him when he goes. "I was five years old, living in Edmonton with my settler parents, my adopted parents. And all I wanted was to go home, know my culture, speak my language. That's all I wanted," he remembers. "So here I am." Reconnecting with resilience "It took a lot of work and commitment and time to build a safe, inclusive, loving, kind space that every single young trans person or two-spirit person can come and feel safe and be completely who they are," Makokis said. This year, more than 100 people visited and participated in the camp, with families coming from Quebec and Ontario to support. Makokis has also been working to expand the community around the project, inviting health researchers and doctors from the University of Toronto, McMaster University and more to engage in Indigenous-led, two-spirit and trans-focused health practices. It's part of his larger work – rebuilding the Nehiyaw medical system from birth to death. "We see the transformation, the healing in our people when they participate and all people when they come and return to their humanity — because that is what it's all about." While the Humble Lodge now has a permanent home, there is still work to do. He wants to hold ceremonies and programs year-round on the land, offering knowledge sharing and reconnecting people — Indigenous and non-Indigenous — to treaties, medicines and health. "It's not culture and ceremonies, it's our way of life, our health system, education system and medical system," he said. And making sure those spaces are inclusive and celebrate the two-spirit community is at the core. "They're that beautiful rainbow space that exists between this black and white binary," he said. "And I am excited for other nations to start doing this and dismantling patriarchy, and dismantling misogyny and dismantling homophobia and transphobia. "We all need love, sâkihitowin, love is the best medicine that we can give one another and each other."
CBC
22-07-2025
- General
- CBC
Making the rite of passage accessible to every Indigenous person
A camp in Alberta is working to inspire a renewal of rite of passage ceremonies by making them accessible to trans and two-spirit Indigenous people. CBC's Paige Parsons was invited to Humble Lodge to learn more about the experience that participants describe as life-changing.
BBC News
21-07-2025
- Health
- BBC News
Tribunal nurse 'would not treat trans patients differently'
A nurse who confronted a trans doctor in a hospital changing room would not have treated trans patients differently from any other patient, a tribunal has heard. Charlotte Myles, a clinical service manager at NHS Fife, was tasked with reviewing Sandie Peggie's suspension following an altercation with Dr Beth Upton - a trans woman - on Christmas Eve Myles said she did not have patient safety concerns regarding Ms Peggie, as the nurse's feelings towards Dr Upton and trans patients in general could not be Peggie claims her treatment was unlawful under the 2010 Equality Act and brought the case against NHS Fife. Ms Myles said she asked Ms Peggie how she would treat trans patients and that the nurse told her she would treat them as she would any patient. Ms Peggie said she "felt sorry" for trans people and Ms Myles deemed there was not any risk from her returning to work. She believed the nurse would "treat patients as patients".Ms Myles was later questioned by Ms Peggie's lawyer Naomi witness said she was "not impressed" with concerns regarding an alleged previous incident where Ms Peggie was accused of walking out on seeing a patient due to Dr Upton's Myles said this had not been escalated or reported in the correct manner at the time. Timeline of the Sandie Peggie tribunal Ms Myles also said she was told by other members of NHS Fife staff - including Dr Upton's line manager Dr Kate Searle - that Ms Peggie had previously been involved in racist incidents in the Ms Myles said these incidents had never been escalated or documented, with no times or dates provided for when they added she was not willing to use "third hand information" when deciding whether Ms Peggie should return to her work and that she considered the claims hearsay. Ms Myles said some of the other senior staff consulted were reluctant to have Ms Peggie return to work at the Victoria Hospital in Myles said senior staff alleged Ms Peggie apparently supported American President Donald Trump, a noted critic of trans rights. 'Damage limitation' Ms Peggie was suspended on 3 January 2024 following the Christmas Eve incident, where Dr Upton said Ms Peggie had referenced Isla Bryson, a rapist who is also transgender. The tribunal previously heard the encounter left Dr Upton in a distressed state. Ms Myles was asked to help oversee Ms Peggie's return to believed it was "in the best interests of both (Dr Upton and Ms Peggie) to keep them separated".The clinical service manager added that this was "damage limitation" given the previous proposed Ms Peggie could work at another hospital, such as the Queen Margaret hospital in Dunfermline, an idea rejected by the proposal was to have Dr Upton and Ms Peggie work different shift patterns, but Ms Peggie told Ms Myles did not feel she could work day shifts due to having a routine based around her family and looking after her dog.A compromise was agreed where Ms Peggie would work weekends and be supervised during a phased return to Myles said that as the case was "quite limited" regarding witnesses to the Christmas Eve incident, then what was said in the changing room was a case of "she said/she said."The tribunal moved straight to evidence, without any mention of a controversial statement published by the health board on Friday.
