Trans, Inside and Out - By Tessa Vikander
←
→
Page content transcription
If your browser does not render page correctly, please read the page content below
Trans, Inside and Out By Tessa Vikander
One woman’s story
reveals how BC
Corrections
discriminates against
trans people.
I
t’s a late May evening at Surrey Pre-
trial Services Centre—a men’s jail in
the suburbs of Vancouver, BC—and
Haedyn-Khris Beaumann has had
enough. A fellow inmate has spent
the past week taunting her with bigoted re-
marks, and she’s ready to fight back.
“I’m sick and tired of what you’re saying,”
she tells him.
The man had been “dropping the
F-bomb” (f*g) and insisting that racial
and sexual minorities shouldn’t get “spe-
cial privileges.” He also told her he doesn’t
think it’s “right” to be gay.
Beaumann, a pansexual trans woman,
had been at Surrey Pretrial since August
2019. She was involuntarily transferred
there from the nearby Alouette Correc-
tional Centre for Women, in Maple Ridge.
She has filed a human rights complaint
against BC Corrections, saying the system
discriminated against her as a trans woman
by keeping her in a men’s jail.
Since arriving at the men’s institution,
she’d faced both sexual harassment and
sexual assault. “I just started crying and
left. I just couldn’t take it,” said 27-year-old
Beaumann of the inmate’s taunts. She went
to see her case manager and was placed in a
different unit, away from that inmate. But
her new unit was under tighter controls;
inmates were alone more, with less time out
of their cells.
“I’m there until they can figure out what
else to do with me,” she said the day after
the incident.
Beaumann, who was awaiting extradition
to the US on murder and theft charges, said
Story by she hoped to be “housed” in a women’s fa-
cility south of the border. She and a friend,
Tessa Vikander Christopher Shade, are accused of beating
a man to death with a shovel, then stealing
Illustrations by Bug Cru Summer/Fall 2020 37
pleas for long hair, ballet lessons, and
nail polish.
Her parents kicked her out when
she was 15 or 16, leading to periods
of homelessness. By 19, she’d realized
she was trans, and came out to a group
of trans people on Facebook. But she
didn’t feel safe enough to live as a
woman. “I kept it to myself, because I
felt that who I was was wrong.”
In 2013, she met Richard Bergesen
—the man she’s charged with killing—
through her church, and he gave her
a place to live. At the time, she was
living as a man, with the last name of
Patterson. Beaumann alleges Bergesen
made unwanted sexual advances to-
ward her shortly before he was killed.
Court documents say when Bergesen
was found dead in his Sammamish,
WA, home in September 2014, he’d
been “brutally bludgeoned.”
Court records allege that after
Bergesen was killed, Beaumann and
Shade stole his car and wallet, and
his credit cards and vehicle, and fleeing to Under BC human rights law, prisons are escaped to Canada by driving through a
Canada on a back road. “services” with a duty to protect inmates barbed-wire fence. They were arrested in
When she was arrested, she was living as a against harassment and discrimination Abbotsford, BC, later that day.
man. Since then, she’s come out as a trans based on their gender. “They not only have According to court documents, Beau-
woman, and joined a long line of transgender an obligation to protect you from system- mann has said she’s innocent, and that her
people fighting for fair treatment within ic discrimination within the prison, but friend killed Bergesen. Yet extradition doc-
Canadian prison systems since the 1970s. they also have an obligation to protect uments say she called two friends shortly
Trans people face higher levels of sex- you from other prisoners,” says paralegal after Bergesen was killed and told one, “I
ual violence behind bars than cisgender Shelly Bazuik of Prisoners’ Legal Services, fucked up,” and the other, "I hit him over the
people. According to US data collected in a legal clinic that advocates for incarcera- head with a shovel." Shade was extradited
2011-2012, trans prisoners are up to ten ted people. “It’s their obligation to create and found guilty of second degree murder,
times more likely to be sexually harassed or an environment where a prisoner doesn’t identity theft, and burglary after pleading
assaulted than cis prisoners. In the world at experience discrimination and harass- guilty in May 2016, and was sentenced to
large, they also face higher rates of suicide ment.” BC Corrections refused requests 14 years and 9 months in prison.
and suicide attempts. Research from 2013 for an interview. When Beaumann was arrested and
showed that 45% of trans people surveyed Bazuik represented Beaumann for five placed among men at Surrey Pretrial, she
in Ontario had attempted suicide, and 77% years, and she’s frustrated by the pro- says she “sealed” her trans identity. Two
had seriously considered it. vince’s treatment of trans inmates. “If a years on, she tried to come out as trans,
Beaumann—who is Canadian but grew person's being sexually harassed a lot, of- but says corrections authorities didn’t
up in the US—fought her extradition for ten they'll end up in a different unit,” she believe her. A year later, she met Bianca
five years, during which she submitted explains. “The solution always seems to be Bailey Lovado, another trans woman
eight separate legal challenges through the restricting the liberties of the transgender at Surrey Pretrial. “She was really tel-
Canadian courts. Her objections to being person rather than the person enaged in ling me to be myself and to be open,”
sent to the US for trial included concerns the discrimination.” said Beaumann.
she might face the death penalty, and fears With Lovado’s support, Beaumann tried
she wouldn’t be safe as a pansexual trans Coming out behind bars a second time to come out to the prison
woman in a US prison. She ultimately lost, “I’ve known that I was different from a administration. This time they took her se-
and was extradited mid-June. She has been really young age,” Beaumann said over the riously, and she was able to start hormones
placed in a women’s facility in Washington phone from the men’s jail in Surrey. As to begin her physical transition. But, she
state while awaiting trial. she grew up, her conservative Christian says, she didn’t feel there was room to have
Still pending is Beaumann’s human rights parents weren’t open to Beaumann being doubts. “There was nobody here [in a pro-
complaint against BC Corrections. anything but a boy. Her dad refused her fessional capacity] that I could talk to to
38 Asparagus Magazine
figure out who I was... I felt nobody wanted Beaumann says that when she “broke,” men’s jail was discriminatory. In the filing,
to support me.” she got into an expletive-laden argument she also asked for financial compensation
“[The warden] said I had to pick if I was with a guard. A court document describes and to be returned to the women’s prison.
[trans]. If they were going to support me, the incident as “violent.” “My dignity, feelings and self-respect
they needed to know who I was.” That argument landed her in segregation, have all been damaged as a result of the trans-
After she began transitioning with the where she stayed for several months before fer,” it reads. “I have been assaulted regularly
help of a doctor, she requested and was being involuntarily transferred from Alou- by officers and inmates since my transfer to
granted a transfer to Alouette Correction- ette back to the men’s prison after anoth- male population.” It continues: “Since my
al Centre for Women. She stayed there for er incident in August 2019. A December transfer, I have attempted suicide.”
almost a year. Some aspects of her stay were 2019 court ruling says prison staff had “ur- Although Beaumann was not transferred
“amazing,” she said: “Everyone accepted gent and legitimate concerns about their back to the women’s facility in Canada
me. I was able to connect with a lot of peo- inability to protect Alouette’s inmates, its before her extradition, the American sys-
ple who were able to show me respect and staff, and Ms. [Beaumann] herself after her tem placed her in a women’s jail when
kindness for who I am.” violent episode.” The judge said because she arrived. Her lawyer in Washington
“A lot of the inmates helped me braid my the transfer was an “on the spot” decision, state, Danny Waxwing, says her history of
hair, helped me learn how to put on make- Beaumann wasn’t entitled to advance no- being held at a women’s facility and ha-
up properly,” she said. “They cared about tice, leaving her with no right to contest ving received gender-affirming health care
me as a person.” the transfer before it happened. through BC Corrections doctors will help
But, Bazuik confirms, Beaumann was While in segregation, she says she her be placed in another women’s institu-
under high surveillance at the women’s attempted both suicide and genital self- tion if she’s found guilty and sentenced.
prison. She felt she went from being seen mutilation. In the days before the transfer, “She has been very consistent over time
as a high-risk victim at the men’s jail, to a Beaumann says she attempted suicide al- that being placed in a women’s prison is
high-risk predator at Alouette. An officer most daily, and that resisting being put into what would be safest for her physically,
was assigned to watch her whenever she an anti-suicide smock is what prompted mentally and emotionally,” Waxwing said.
was out of her cell. her transfer. Back in Canada, Bazuik says the Sur-
Trans women who haven’t had gender- That fall, Beaumann challenged the way rey jail is “not at all close to creating a
affirming surgery, like Beaumann, are the transfer decision was made. A BC harassment-free environment.” She ac-
judge ruled it was fair knowledges, though, that the institution
Trans prisoners are
for Alouette to make an has “evolved” in the time she has worked
“on the spot” decision to with Beaumann. “There’s been five, may-
transfer her back to the be six [trans] women who’ve stayed at the
up to ten times more men’s jail, but also ruled
it was unfair not to
prison… There’s a core of staff now at Sur-
rey Pretrial who understand what some of
likely to be sexually
provide her with the do- the important issues are.”
cumented reasons for The current policy does entitle trans
the transfer until al- people to private showers and bathrooms,
harassed or assaulted most three months later.
However, the judge did
and the right to be called by their chosen
names. They also have access to gender-
than cis prisoners.
not rule on whether affirming health care, though Bazuik says
Beaumann had been dis- one of her clients once had to wait three
criminated against. months to see the doctor specializing in
health care for trans people.
subjected to more scrutiny than trans Back where she didn’t belong Guards could do more to stop harass-
women who’ve had surgery, said Bazuik. Other inmates at the Surrey jail didn’t ment by other inmates, says Bazuik: “The
“An officer [is] following them everywhere understand what it means to be trans- officers still for the most part don’t in-
they go in the prison as if their genitalia was gender, Beaumann said. They groped her tervene.” This makes the trans inmate
a weapon... And then, of course, any people breasts and teased her for being trans. responsible for “ratting” on the person
who are subject to extra scrutiny end up in “They think it’s a joke,” she said. “They who’s harassing them.
extra trouble, just like with racial profiling.” think that because I’m transgender I’d like “There's a whole subculture in prisons
Bazuik says it can also cause fellow prison- to perform oral sex on them.” about ratting. If you rat on a person, you're
ers to believe the inmate is being supervised Beaumann’s human rights complaint, setting yourself up for extra assault and
because they’re a sexual predator, regardless filed November 2019, is against BC’s violence,” says Bazuik. “Prison officials are
of their actual history. Ministry of Public Safety and Solicitor very aware of [this], yet they still put the
“I dealt with sexual abuse as a child,” General, the provincial bodies that oversee onus on transgender prisoners to name
Beaumann said. “I would never want to put BC’s prison system. She wants the BC Hu- the people who are harassing them, when
that on someone... To be labelled as that is man Rights Tribunal to declare that BC sometimes [officials have] been witness to
so hard, and I eventually broke.” Corrections’ decision to move her back to the it in the first place.”
Summer/Fall 2020 39Challenging the system less. According to the province, the average said. Bianca Lovado, the trans woman who
Bazuik wants to challenge BC’s policies length of stay is 41 to 61 days in custody, encouraged Beaumann to come out, was
on trans prisoners—which don’t auto- meaning the average trans prisoner will have transferred to the women’s jail and then
matically give trans people the right to be served all or most of their time before the released, Bazuik said. She ended up in jail
placed at an institution based on the gen- initial decision is made on their transfer. several times after that, but was always
der they identify with—in court. What Beaumann tried to challenge the policy placed back in the men’s centre. Lovado
trans people have the right to is a transfer in court a couple years back with a judicial died in November.
request, which is reviewed by a team made review, Bazuik said, but right before the While still in Canada, Beaumann conti-
up of medical personnel from Correctional case would have been heard, the prison nued to fight to get back into the women’s
Health Services and deputy wardens from transferred her to the women’s jail. jail. When another round of requests were
the inmate’s current and requested jails, One way to change the policy is for an refused this spring due to behavioural con-
and may include representatives from BC inmate to file a human rights complaint, cerns, she was so upset she could hardly speak.
Corrections headquarters. Bazuik said. This process can take any- “I woke up crying this morning,” she said.
The policy gives this team up to 60 days where from six to 20 months. During the Within days, she was extradited, and
to make a decision. If the transfer request human rights hearing, the inmate’s lawyer placed in general population among
is denied, the process for reconsideration could ask the tribunal judge whether the women at the King County Correctional
gets arduous. First, the inmate can submit timeline for making the decision around Facility. She awaits trial.
a complaint to BC Corrections and have a transfer is fair, and the judge could rule
the request reconsidered, Bazuik says, add- that BC Corrections has discriminated
and must pay damages to the inmate. This Tessa Vikander is a queer, settler, freelance
ing another seven to 30 days to the process.
journalist. She writes and reports on LGBTQ2
And if BC Corrections still says no, the would set a precedent for future trans in-
rights, feminism, the justice system, and race,
inmate can ask for a judicial review, which mates requesting transfer. among other things.
includes getting approved for a legal aid But for inmates who cycle in and out
lawyer and having a court hearing sche- of custody, neither a court challenge nor Bug Cru is a third-generation Dutch settler and
duled, which can take three more months. a human rights complaint can guarantee Kanienkehaka artist, illustrator and tattooist.
This is an issue, Bazuik says, because the placement in a gender-appropriate institu- Their work is informed by their perspectives as
typical stay at a BC jail is two months or tion. The timing just doesn’t work, Bazuik a mad, chronically ill, queer, and trans person.
Come and join us for a pint of beer or 1830 Ontario St
a glass of kombucha on our sunny new patio! Vancouver, BCYou can also read
