DessertStorms

Lori and George Schappell were joined at the skull with separate bodies and lived on their own since the age of 24

The world’s oldest living conjoined twins have died at the age of 62 in their native Pennsylvania.

Lori and George Schappell died on 7 April at the hospital of the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia, according to an obituary. A cause of death was not disclosed.

The Schappell twins were born on 18 September 1961 in Reading, in southern Pennsylvania. They were joined at the skull with separate bodies, sharing 30% of their brain and essential blood vessels.

George had spina bifida and used a mobility device. Lori pushed and steered George’s wheeled stool so the two could move around.

The twins represented the rarest form of conjoined twinning, which affects only 2% to 6% of conjoined twins, NBC Today reported.

George transitioned in 2007, with the Schappells becoming the first same-sex conjoined twins to identify as different genders, Guinness World Records reported.

George discussed his decision to come out with the Sun newspaper in 2011 when the siblings visited London to celebrate their 50th birthday and vowed to “continue living life to the full”.

He said: “I have known from a very young age that I should have been a boy.”

He added: “It was so tough, but I was getting older and I simply didn’t want to live a lie. I knew I had to live my life the way I wanted.”

The Schappells graduated from the Hiram G Andrews Center, a technical institute in Elim, Pennsylvania. They both worked for Reading hospital for a number of years.

The Schappells had distinct hobbies and interests.

George performed as a country music singer, traveling to several countries including Germany and Japan, according to Guinness World Records. Meanwhile, Lori was a lauded tenpin bowler.

The siblings lived on their own since the age of 24. They previously lived in an institution for people with intellectual impairments, despite not being mentally disabled, following a court order, New York Magazine reported.

Later, the two shared a two-bedroom apartment. Each sibling had their own room, alternating which room they would sleep in each night.

The Schappells said that, despite being conjoined, they were able to have privacy in the shared apartment.

“Just because we cannot get up and walk away from each other, doesn’t mean we cannot have solitude from other people or ourselves,” Lori said in a 1997 documentary.

For example, when George needed to rehearse his country music, the pair would go to his room, where Lori would remain quiet and allow George to practice.

While some conjoined twins have opted to be separated via surgery, such procedures weren’t available when the Schappells were born.

The twins also rejected the idea of separation.

“Would we be separated? Absolutely not,” George said in a 1997 documentary. “My theory is: why fix what is not broken?”

“I don’t believe in separation,” Lori said to the Los Angeles Times in a 2002 interview.

Joewackle J Kusi was finishing his film Nyame Mma when an anti-LGBTQ+ bill was passed, bringing the threat of prosecution for those ‘promoting’ queer stories

Arare Ghanian film featuring a queer main character could not have been released at a worse time for its director and cast. Joewackle J Kusi was making finishing touches to his short film, Nyame Mma (Children of God), and arranging screenings in the capital, Accra, when a piece of legislation passed through Ghana’s parliament, targeting LGBTQ+ content.

According to the bill approved in late February, those involved in the “wilful promotion, sponsorship or support of LGBTQ+ activities” will face jail sentences of up to five years. The legislation, awaiting presidential endorsement before it becomes law, also stipulates a prison sentence of between six months and three years for those found guilty of identifying as LGBTQ+.

Kusi says the bill’s passing forced him to cut the schedule short, to just one private screening for prominent art and film figures. It was shown on 6 March, Ghana’s independence day, at a venue in Accra, but Kusi has no idea if it will ever reach a wider audience.

“I was nervous, I was anxious because of the bill,” Kusi says. “The safety of my cast and crew kept me up at night.

“We considered that it was safer to just have one night. We didn’t go big because it didn’t feel safe to screen a film with a queer character in Ghana around the time this bill was passed.”

Nyame Mma tells the story of Kwamena (played by Kobina Amissah-Sam), who moves away from home to live in Bolgatanga, a town in northern Ghana, because of family friction over his sexuality. After the sudden death of his father, the 30-year-old queer man returns home to Sekondi, in the country’s south-west.

There, he meets his estranged lover, Maroof (played by Papa Osei A Adjei), who, under intense societal pressures, is about to marry a woman. Kwamena is left grieving not just for his father, but also the loss of Maroof.

In a touch of magical realism, Kwamena, in a dream sequence, meets his father in the afterlife. The film also alludes to Sekondi’s annual masquerade – the Ankos festival – with spirits featuring in surreal episodes.

“Some of the stories we are going to tell are going to be heavily impacted by the bill. It’s stifling to creativity,” Kusi says.

“When this film goes out there at the right time I could spend four to five years in prison because I made a film that acknowledges and highlights marginalised and queer stories.”

The bill, he says, is in contrast with Ghana positioning itself as a tourist destination, particularly after its 2019 Year of Return initiative, designed to encourage the diaspora to come back to the country.

Based in Accra, Kusi, 31, studied broadcast journalism and mass communications at the Ghana Institute of Journalism. He worked as a writer and producer at a local television network before losing his job during the pandemic which led him to focus on film-making.

One of his first major productions was a well-received audio drama called Goodbye, Gold Coast, telling the love story of a Ghanian schoolteacher and her European lover on the eve of Ghana’s independence in 1957..

Finding actors willing to play queer characters was a major challenge during Nyame Mma’s production. Kusi choose straight actors because “if I had to cast queer actors then they would have to go in hiding”.

“People read the script and said beautiful things about it but said they can’t act the role,” he says.

“Growing up, every single time I have seen a queer representation in a Ghanian film it’s been in negative light. You’ll see them at the end of the film giving their life to Christ, or they’re probably on the bed dying from some STDs. I felt that shouldn’t be the only real representation, so I tried to create positive characters.”

The existing colonial-era gay sex law in Ghana, which carries a prison sentence of three years, has recently led to arrests. In 2021, a group of 16 women and five men were arrested in southeastern Ghana after attending a meeting for LGBTQ+ advocates, in a case that attracted global attention – however a few months later they were acquitted.

“The [new] bill is targeting and criminalising all aspects of nonconformity,” Kusi says.

Human rights groups have been urging the president, Nana Akufo-Addo, not to sign the bill into law. One, Outright International, says it would “lead to a surge in violence and human rights violations against LGBTQ persons in Ghana”, including “an increased risk of mob attacks, physical and sexual violence, arbitrary arrests, blackmail, online harassment, forced evictions, homelessness, and employment discrimination”.

But Kusi points out it is election year in Ghana, and the season for populist policies.

“The only thing that unites Ghanians, no matter what political party, or religion, is homophobia,” Kusi says.

“Homophobia makes it really hard for people to think clearly. It obstructs your reasoning.”

Confirmation comes after public consultation and decision to close Gender Identity Development Service in London

Children who have gender dysphoria will no longer be given puberty blockers, NHS England has said, ahead of a radical change in how it cares for them.

There is not enough evidence about either how safe they are to take or whether they are clinically effective to justify prescribing them to children and young people who are transitioning, it added.

The government welcomed NHS England’s “landmark decision”, which it said was “in the best interests of children”.

NHS England made the announcement in response to the results of a public consultation on the ban, which it first proposed last June, and a review of available evidence by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (Nice).

A spokesperson said: “NHS England has carefully considered the evidence review conducted by NICE and further published evidence available to date.

“We have concluded that there is not enough evidence to support the safety or clinical effectiveness of puberty suppressing hormones to make the treatment routinely available at this time.”

Puberty blockers arrest the physical changes in a child’s body that puberty brings, such as the development of breasts or facial hair. The NHS’s decision means that the new regional services caring for under-18s with gender dysphoria, which open next month, will not use them as part of the treatment.

From now on, children and young people will only be able to get them if they are taking part in a clinical trial. At least one such trial is due to start later this year, but no details, such as who will be eligible to join it, have been published.

The NHS’s decision reaffirms the position it adopted last year on puberty blockers after Dr Hilary Cass, who is leading an independent review into gender identity services for under-18s, issued interim advice warning against routine prescription of the drugs.

In late 2020 NHS England asked Cass, an ex-president of the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health, to look into gender identity services. At the time they were provided for the whole of England solely by the NHS’s Tavistock and Portman mental health trust in London. Its treatment of under-18s with gender dysphoria, including its use of puberty blockers, had attracted criticism.

Fewer than 100 children and young people are taking puberty blockers.

The trust’s gender identity development service is closing at the end of this month. The first two new centres will open in April at two specialist children’s hospitals: Great Ormond Street in London and Alder Hey children’s hospital in Liverpool. NHS England hopes to ultimately create seven or eight centres.

However, the services they provide will be what NHS sources say will be “fundamentally different from the current service, in line with the Cass recommendations”.

Maria Caulfield, the health minister, said: “We welcome this landmark decision by the NHS to end the routine prescription of puberty blockers and this guidance which recognises that care must be based on evidence, expert clinical opinion and in the best interests of the child.

“The NHS must ensure its Gender Identity Services protect, support and act in the best interests of children and we will continue to work with NHS England to protect children in this area.”

Stonewall voiced its concern about the new policy. “All trans young people deserve access to high quality, timely healthcare”, a spokesperson for the LGBTQ+ rights charity said.

“For some, an important part of this care comes in the form of puberty blockers, a reversible treatment that delays the onset of puberty, prescribed by expert endocrinologists, giving the young person extra time to evaluate their next steps. We are concerned that NHS England will be putting new prescriptions on hold until a research protocol is up and running at the end of 2024.”

Sex Matters, which campaigns on how sex is used in law and other environments, praised NHS England for what it said was a return to evidence-based policymaking in relation to gender identity services.

“This a momentous development in the course correction of NHS England’s approach to treating childhood gender distress,” said Maya Forstater, its executive director.

“The significance of NHS England’s statement that there is not enough evidence to support the safety or clinical effectiveness of puberty blockers cannot be overstated, given the success that activist lobby groups have had in portraying them as a harmless and reversible treatment.”

Was definitely worth staying up until 3 this morning to watch on tv, some sad and enraging and potentially triggering parts, but otherwise empowering and massively uplifting. Fantastic soundtrack, too! If you haven't seen it, do (if you're in the UK it's probably on all4, otherwise I'm sure it's available to watch elsewhere).

Murder-obsessed 16-year-olds convicted of killing girl who was stabbed 28 times in Warrington park

Two 16-year-olds have been found guilty of the “senseless” murder of Brianna Ghey, a “witty, funny and fearless” transgender girl who was stabbed 28 times in a Warrington park this year.

The murder-obsessed teenagers, known as Girl X and Boy Y to protect their identities, were found guilty unanimously by a jury at Manchester crown court on Wednesday after it deliberated for four hours and 40 minutes.

The judge, Mrs Justice Yip, said she would sentence the pair next month, and would decide whether to lift reporting restrictions so that the killers could be named.

She told the teenagers that she would have to impose a life sentence but that she needed to adjourn for further reports to decide on the minimum tariff they must serve.

The pair showed no reaction to the verdicts, but their mothers wept in the court. Afterwards, Brianna’s mother urged “empathy and compassion” for the killers’ parents, saying they “too have lost a child and must live the rest of their lives knowing what their child has done”.

Girl X, who was fascinated by serial killers and boasted of watching torture videos on the dark web, said she was “obsessed” with Brianna. She and Brianna had been friends for a few months before she began plotting to kill her, along with Y.

Vigils were held for Brianna, 16, after her murder prompted particular sorrow and fear among trans people, though Cheshire police said from the start they did not believe she was killed for being trans.

Nigel Parr, senior investigating officer for Cheshire police, said Brianna had been betrayed by two teenagers whose only motivation was to experience how it felt to kill. “This was a senseless murder committed by two teenagers who have an obsession with murder,” he added.

Y had never met Brianna until the day of the murder, which took place in the middle of the afternoon in Culcheth Linear Park on 11 February. The teenagers were disturbed by a couple walking their dog, and ran away, before being captured on CCTV making their way home calmly.

The defendants exchanged thousands of WhatsApp messages in the run-up to the murder, discussing various children they wanted to kill. Plans to murder another boy were abandoned when they failed to lure him to Culcheth Linear Park, and so they switched their focus to Brianna, who, the court heard, did not go out much and had anxiety.

The boy referred to Brianna as “prey” and “it” in his messages, saying she would be easier to kill “and I want to see if it will scream like a man or a girl”.

Though X and Y had been friends since they were 11, they turned on each other after their arrests. The girl initially made up a story about Brianna “going off with some lad from Manchester”, before changing her defence to claim that the boy was responsible for killing her.

Y blamed the murder on X, saying he was urinating against a tree in the park when he turned around to see X stabbing Brianna.

The jury was told they did not have to decide which one of the teenagers stabbed Brianna to find them guilty of the joint enterprise murder.

Y told police the girl was “not a normal person” and that she claimed to be a satanist in year 8. He said she told him she had killed twice before, but that he was not sure whether to believe her because the murders had not been on the news. Police could find no evidence of other killings.

After detectives confronted Boy Y with the forensic evidence against him – including Brianna’s blood on a hunting knife found in his bedroom, as well as on his trainers and clothes – he stopped talking and has been mute since being taken into secure custody, talking only to his mother.

Highly unusually, the boy was allowed to give evidence via text. Special arrangements were made for the barristers’ questions to be typed for him, and he typed his replies, which were read to the jury.

He and Girl X were provided with intermediaries, who sat with them in the dock to make sure they understood the court process, along with security staff. The pair did not speak to each other, and avoided making eye contact when they were together.

Their parents were in court most days, with Brianna’s family watching upstairs from the public gallery.

Earlier this year, Brianna’s mother, Esther Ghey, told the Guardian that while her daughter had anxiety and mental health problems, she was “very outgoing and very confident” and dreamed of becoming “TikTok-famous”.

The court heard she did not go out alone often, and texted her mother on the way to meet her killers, saying she was “scared” because there were lots of people on the bus.

But she had a large following online, where her dance routines and skits drew friends from around the world. After the verdicts, Esther described her daughter as “larger than life” and “funny, witty and fearless”.

Though Girl X told the jury that Brianna was bullied at school for being trans, her head teacher insisted that was not the case.

The Birchwood community high school head, Emma Mills, told the BBC: “There was never any evidence of Brianna being bullied within school or out of school. Brianna was very much able to give as good as she got in that way.”

Brianna came out as trans aged 14 and had been living and dressing as a girl until her murder. Her mother said she supported the transition: “It didn’t bother me. It was just something that Brianna wanted to do and I was happy. As long as she was happy then that’s all that mattered.”

After the verdicts, the Crown Prosecution Service said: “This has been one of the most distressing cases the Crown Prosecution Service has had to deal with. The planning, the violence and the age of the killers is beyond belief.

“Brianna Ghey was subjected to a frenzied and ferocious attack and was stabbed 28 times in broad daylight in a public park.

“Girl X and Boy Y appear to have been a deadly influence on each other and turned what may have started out as dark fantasies about murder into a reality.”

Teachers should inform parents if their child wishes to change their gender identity at school, under newly published government guidance.

Schools in England should "take a very cautious approach" if pupils want to use a new name, pronouns or uniform.

Teachers will be able to withhold information if they believe a child could be put at "significant" risk.

The Department for Education (DfE) says it will assist teachers to act in the best interest of pupils.

The guidance, which applies to schools in England, has been promised since 2018.

Education Secretary Gillian Keegan said: "Parents' views must also be at the heart of all decisions made about their children."

Minister for Women and Equalities Kemi Badenoch added the guidance made clear "schools do not have to accept a child's request to socially transition" - a term referring to when someone wants to change their name, pronoun, or clothing to reflect their gender identity.

Teachers or pupils should not be pressured into using different pronouns, she said.

Teaching union the Association of School and College Leaders (ASCL) welcomed the guidance's publication, saying it would review it to ensure it was clear and deliverable.

Under the new guidance teachers do not have a "general duty" to allow pupils to socially transition and are urged to use caution, including "watchful waiting periods, and ensuring parents are fully consulted before any decision is taken".

Kevin Sexton, head teacher at Chesterfield High School in Liverpool, says the guidance is unlikely to change much about his current approach to transgender students.

"I'm going to do what I'd basically do now, which is to support the child, to work with the child to actually give them the confidence to tell their parents," he says.

"It's interesting to understand that the majority of the work we've done with parents has been asking them for support, not us having to tell them… sometimes the work with schools is about how they can actually access other support services."

The guidance emphasises that any changes should be carried out "sensitively, without implying contested views around gender identity are fact".

However, it does allow teachers to withhold information from parents in the "exceptionally rare" circumstances where they believe telling parents could put a child at "significant" risk of harm.

Teaching staff, pupils and parents will also be told they do not have to observe a child's chosen name and pronouns if they "hold protected religious or other beliefs that conflict with the decision".

The guidance also says toilets, changing rooms and some sports should be separated based on a child's birth sex.

"Schools must not allow a child, aged 11 years or older, to change or wash in front of a child of the opposite sex," the guidance says.

As well as single-sex toilets for pupils aged eight and over, schools are advised that any gender-neutral facilities they may have should have floor-to-ceiling lockable doors or be fully contained in their own room.

The guidance also:

• Reaffirms single-sex schools' right to refuse to admit pupils of the opposite sex, even if they are questioning their gender

• Says primary school aged children (aged 11 and under) should not have different pronouns to their sex

• Encourages schools to hold gender-questioning children to "the same uniform standard as other children of their sex"

• Requires schools to record the name and biological sex of every pupil in the admissions register

Earlier this year the government broke its own deadline for releasing the proposals after legal advice suggested its original plans to ban children from socially transitioning at school would be unlawful without introducing new legislation.

The guidelines will now be subject to a 12-week public consultation before being finalised; with teachers, parents and interested groups invited to give their views.

Some teachers have told the BBC they are relieved the guidance has been published, because they say some schools have faced difficult situations navigating the issue.

But others have anonymously said they intend to continue following their own policies regardless.

One teacher, who did not want to be identified, said this new guidance could "complicate school life even further" and "provides little assurance" for children who identify as transgender or non-binary.

Another said they wouldn't "out" a child against their wishes but would always encourage them to speak to their parents.

An independent interim report commissioned by NHS England into gender identity services for children and young people said more information was needed about social transitioning.

One parent told BBC News she was "completely horrified" when she found out her daughter had been using a different name and pronouns at school without her knowledge.

"At no point did they tell me what was actually going on," she said.

"They actively hid it from me for about four months, despite me being in touch with the school and expressing concerns about my daughter's wellbeing."

But Mike, who supported his son's new identity after he told him he was transgender at the age of 12, believes the new guidelines could put "a massive amount of undue pressure" on teachers.

"There should be some support services in place to which a school can signpost a young person where they'll get proper, professional counselling not biased in one direction or another."

Former Tory Prime Minister Liz Truss, who previously presented a Private Member's Bill calling for social transitioning not to be recognised by schools for under-18s, said the guidance provided "insufficient protection and clarity".

Advocacy group Sex Matters, which has lobbied the government on gender identity in schools, said the guidance contains "important positive steps" but left too much to the discretion of individual schools.

The guidance has been criticised by transgender youth support charity Mermaids, which said the proposed measures were "unworkable, out of touch and absurd".

In a statement, it said: "Rather than listening to trans young people and reflecting best practice of inclusive educators across the UK, the government has created more confusion for schools and is putting young people at risk."

Tanya Carter, from the Safe Schools Alliance organisation, which is concerned about how some schools manage gender identity, says: "It's about safeguarding young people, and teachers should always speak to parents.

"They should show professional curiosity and questions should be asked, exploring why a child feels the way they do.

"When it comes to sports, it's not only about safety, it's about fairness to all pupils."

Caleb, 21, came out as transgender at the age of 16, but says that due to a lack of official guidance, teachers didn't know what to do.

He says compelling teachers to immediately tell parents their child is questioning their gender or wants to socially transition is "dangerous territory" if a parent is unsupportive.

"If schools have a knowledge that a parent is not supportive, they're not safeguarding that child, they're sending them home to a completely unsafe environment."

Caleb was referred to gender identity services four years ago and is still awaiting a first appointment.

He added: "Social transition is important because it is the only thing transgender people can do to live their life the way they want to if they don't have the money to access private medical treatment as waiting lists on the NHS are so long."

What's the guidance in other nations?

The new Gender Questioning Guidance only applies to schools in England, as other nations have devolved education systems.

Northern Ireland's Education Authority published non-statutory guidance in 2019, covering things like name changes, uniforms, and facilities.

Unlike the English guidance, which advises parents should be told except in "exceptionally rare circumstances", the Northern Ireland document says teachers are advised to inform a pupil's parents where a young person is identifying as transgender - but only with the consent and knowledge of the pupil.

Scotland released non-prescriptive guidance in 2021 containing "real-life examples" of issues known to affect transgender students, including bullying, safety and privacy.

The Welsh government has not yet published guidance for schools on this matter, but a spokesperson said they are developing guidance at the moment to "support teachers and ensure trans children and young people are fully included in education.

"There needs to be extensive consultation with teachers, experts and the public, as well as children and young people themselves, so we will hold a full public consultation on the draft guidance in early 2024."