UPDATE: A news report recently revealed an investigation concluded that neglect killed Haywood Earl, a 60 year old Black man, at Lemuel Shattuck Hospital.  The same hospital at which Jean and I were patients.

CLICK HERE to link to above article.

READ AN ARTICLE about CaSonya King, a black patient who died similarly to Jean

CLICK HERE to see a letter of support by MindFreedom International

MA TRANGENDER POLITCAL COALTION encourages Gov Healey and AG Campbell to investigate!

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UPDATE: Antonia Nagy, filmmaker and owner of CaveLight Productions, whose videos have over 500,000,000 views, just put her name and resources behind this petition. Scroll down to the updates to see her message.

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The goals of this petition are: 

*To get Jean Busch's death investigated by the Attorney General of MA, Andrea Joy Campbell.

*To get allegations of systemic abuse of transgender patients in DMH hospitals investigated by Andrea Joy Campbell.

*To get Maura Healey, Massachusetts' first openly gay governor, to throw the full weight of her office behind the Attorney General's investigations.

*To use the results of these investigations to effect long lasting changes for transgender patients of Massachusetts' Department of Mental Health and beyond.
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My name is And Steiner (pictured in above photo). My pronouns are it/it's. I am a transgender patient that has been hospitalized in Massachusetts' (MA) Department of Mental Health (DMH) hospitals for over two years because of severe suicidality with suicide attempts.

When I learned of the death of Jean Busch, a fellow transgender patient, I felt a sense sympathy, grief and anger that's hard to describe, even though I didn't know her personally. I became determined to get her justice by getting her death investigated.

During my research I also learned of Haywood Earl, an older Black man who was killed of neglect at Lemuel Shattuck Hospital. This is the same hospital at which Jean and I were patients. The same hospital that may bear some responsibility for Jean's death!

In this petition I speak mostly from my own experiences because that's what I have to offer. However, the allegations of Lemuel Shattuck bearing some responsibility for Jean's Bush's death come from DMH employees themselves.
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About two years ago I began being abused, mistreated, and discriminated against at Lemuel Shattuck Hospital.

I have written over 100 complaints detailing hundreds of legal, policy and human rights violations.

I have also written over 1000 emails and made hundreds of phone calls to staff members at DMH's Office of Inpatient Management (OIM), various lawmakers, MA's Attorney General, Boston City Council members and other relevant authorities in an attempt to raise awareness of my treatment, the death of Jean Busch, and allegations of systemic abuse and discrimination against other transgender patients.

Here are some things that have happened to me during my time in DMH hospitals:

*Multiple room searches without probable cause.
*Medication restriction/reduction without explanation including HIV medication. (Both Disability Law Center and Massachusetts Transgender Political Coalition sent representatives to resolve this)
*Banned access to telephone communication for weeks at a time.
*Regularly having my privileges stripped without explanation.
*Staff breaking protocol to have me restrained while calm.
*Being tackled by staff at LSH in my room without provocation.
*Being coerced into an unnecessary body search.
*Not being allowed to use the bathroom according to my gender identity.
*Being misgendered constantly and intentionally by staff members.
*Having critical medical care/services withheld punitively (as outlined in MindFreedom International's letter of support above)
*Being transferred, under restraint, as a voluntary patient under no criminal investigation (illegal) to an acute, dangerous forensic ward where I endure constant emotional, verbal and physical abuse from other patients.
*Being forced into seclusion despite having been calm and showing no signs of self-harm behavior for many hours.
*Having my electronics taken from me with no verbal warning (as is afforded to other patients.) This resulted in suicide attempts both times. 2 of those 3 suicide attempts require medical care.
*Being denied/restricted from accessing gender-affirming healthcare for over 18 months.

Here is a picture of some the injuries from one of my assaults:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

These incidents represent a small fraction of my, and other transgender patients', experiences in these hospitals.

During this process I developed close friendships with social workers, nurses, peer specialists and mental health workers who regularly told me that the abuse, mistreatment and discrimination I am experiencing is systemic to transgender patients and that there is ample evidence of this.

According to one peer specialist approximately 80% of transgender patients complain of similar issues at Lemuel Shattuck Hospital.

Multiple staff members also confided in me that Jean Busch, a transgender woman, was experiencing abuse and discrimination similar to me, and, like me, was filing complaints.

Her providers, then perceiving her as a liability, “patient dumped” her (coerced her into leaving the hospital into a dangerous living situation) in which she committed suicide shortly thereafter!

As a result of my publicly reporting the suspicious nature of Jean's death DMH had me forceably transferred, a voluntary patient under no criminal investigation, from Lemuel Shattuck Hospital to a dangerous, forensic psychiatric ward, Dr. Solomon Carter Fuller Mental Health Center.

Please take a look at this chart created by MindFreedom International regarding my care:

 

 

 

 

Fortunately Boston City-Councilor Tania Fernandez Anderson and MA House Representative John Moran have gotten involved and are advocating for me to DMH.

Unfortunately, despite Councilor Anderson's and Rep Moran's valiant  efforts DMH refuses to transfer me back to a safe location and Jean’s death remains uninvestigated. 

Please help us, regardless of your geographical location, to get Jean's death investigated by signing this petition.

Getting Jean's death investigated may indeed be the beginning of the end of the deadly consequences of these medical abuses in Massachusetts to Queer, Transgender and BIPOC communities.

This is our message to Massachusetts' Attorney General Andrea Joy Campbell and Massachusetts' Governor Maura Healey:

• Massachusetts prides itself on being a haven for queer people.
• Massachusetts voters expect Massachusetts' leaders to stand up for LGBTQIA+ rights, as does the rest of the world!
  
• Serious accusations have been raised by patients and staff members of systemic abuse, mistreatment, and discrimination against transgender patients in MA's DMH hospitals, including the death of a trans woman, Jean Busch.
• Investigate and let the facts speak for themselves!
  
• Make changes and/or add laws to ensure that transgender patients are treated with dignity and respect in MA's healthcare system.
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  #justiceforjean #bipoc #transrightsarehumanrights #blacklivesmatter #translivesmatter #transgender #lgbtq 
  

Email: matransgenderrights@proton.me

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