Since Scotland introduced self-identification laws in 2022,rapists,who had committed their crimes as men,have used the law to identify as women and be transferred to women’s prisons. One of these isIsla Bryson,who had raped two women and began identifying as a woman a year after being charged. Another is Tiffany Scott,who stalked a 13-year-old girl,before identifying as a woman after being caught.
People who oppose the latest law believe its formulation will mean that it will be potentially criminal to publicly object to people such as Bryson and Scott being accommodated in female-only spaces,by virtue of their self-identification.
The irony is,women are generally very accepting of trans women. However,a bullying minority in this minority-identification group,including the likes of Bryson and Scott,is determined that coexistence is only acceptable on their own intractable terms.
On the day the law was introduced,JK Rowlingtweeted a thread noting that biological women gained no extra protections,but that a number of sex offenders who were identifying as trans women were now protected,along with a number of trans women who have used their identity to hurt or marginalise biological women.
And Rowling threw down the gauntlet to the government,with the challenge:“I’m currently out of the country,but if what I’ve written here qualifies as an offence under the terms of the new act,I look forward to being arrested when I return to the birthplace of the Scottish Enlightenment.”
Rowling wasn’t arrested on her return. How could she have been? The Scottish government would’ve looked like fools.