Yesterday’s* judgment by Lady Haldane is good news for everyone. She ruled that the UK Government was right when it blocked the Scottish Government’s Gender Recognition Reform Bill. Much has already been written about why the bill was incompetent, and why it would have been bad news for women and children, but where does this decision leave transsexuals?
Almost twelve months after rapist Isla Bryson was sent to a women’s prison, the Scottish Prison Service has come up with a new transgender policy. From 26 February 2024, transwomen – including male transsexuals like me – will be barred from the female estate if they had been convicted of crimes that harmed women. Quite right, but behind the headlines – Trans women who hurt females to go to male prisons, according to the BBC – the devil is in the detail.
The SNP’s ill-fated gender reforms shaped Nicola Sturgeon’s last days as First Minister, but if Humza Yousaf has learned from the experience, he is not showing it. The SNP’s crown prince – or perhaps clown prince – is tying himself in knots over the sex of a double rapist who has just been sentenced to eight years.
Debbie Hayton