For months, the legal status of trans people has been the subject of disputes in the British “culture war”.

Facilitation of gender change, as recently passed by the Scottish government, has met with fierce opposition from the Conservative government in London.

Scottish Prime Minister Nicola Sturgeon is now heavily on the defensive.

A spectacular individual case, which opponents of liberalization consider to be paradigmatic, has “thrown their transpolitics off course”, as the head of the Scottish Tories, Douglas Ross, put it.

Jochen Buchsteiner

Political correspondent in London.

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At the center of the debate is a convicted rapist who identified himself as a woman during the trial and was therefore sent to a Scottish women's prison.

After days of protests, Sturgeon gave way on Thursday evening.

In Edinburgh Parliament, she announced that the perpetrator, who now calls himself Isla Bryson, would be transferred to a men's prison.

Referring to the "understandable public and parliamentary concerns," Sturgeon quoted the leader of women's charity Rape Crisis Scotland as saying, "I don't see how it is possible for a rapist to be in a women's prison." She then added to: "I agree with that."

Gender change through self-identification

Bryson, listed as Adam Graham in older court records, was found guilty in Glasgow on Monday of raping two women in 2016 and 2019.

Graham had met his victims through dating platforms.

During the trial in the Scottish High Court, the jury was told that Adam Graham was a "dead name".

The judge used the name Isla Bryson.

On Monday, Bryson appeared in a blonde wig, pink down jacket and handbag.

The sentence is expected to be announced at the end of February.

It was only in December that Parliament in Edinburgh passed a law by a large majority, but against the votes of the Tories, that would allow official gender change from the age of 16 through self-identification without the previous medical certificates.

Amendments that would limit the rights of sex offenders were rejected.

The government in London recently decided not to approve the law.

This was justified with the violation of the principle of equality.

This angered the Scottish National Party (SNP) and its Green coalition partner, who have since considered legal action.

Wife speaks of a "trick"

The Bryson case had made waves in the past few days.

Women in particular were stunned.

Susan Smith of For Women Scotland called the decision to send Bryson to Cornton Vale women's prison "disgusting".

After a risk analysis, it should have been clear that Bryson “must not come even remotely close to vulnerable women who are in prison”.

Tory MP Miriam Cates said it was "impossible to believe that in a civilized society a man convicted of raping two women would be transferred to a women's prison".

Bryson, 31, had stated in court that he had felt uneasy about being male from an early age, was now taking hormones and wanted sex-changing surgery.

Bryson's wife Shonna Graham, with whom Bryson is separating, said she "fell out of bed laughing" when she heard the testimony in court.

This is a "trick" to get better prison conditions.

When Sturgeon was asked in Parliament whether she now saw the rapist as a man or a woman, she replied evasively: "Look, I am not commenting on an individual person." whether he or she is trans or not.

This is about a person who was convicted of rape.

So she's a rapist and a sex offender, and that's what's important."

Opposition leader Ross called it "incredible that Nicola Sturgeon refuses to specify whether she sees this double rapist as a man or a woman" during Thursday's debate.

After all, according to the SNP's self-identification policy, "this evil criminal" is a woman.

“But the Prime Minister refuses to admit this because she knows that the public would be appalled if a double rapist were called a woman.” The Labor Party also lives with contradictions.

While the Scottish wing of the party voted in favor of the law, MP Yvette Cooper said on Friday: "Anyone who is a danger to women and has committed crimes against women must not be held with female prisoners."