4/4/13

Scottish Transman Chris Wilson, To Be Sentenced Friday For Not Revealing His Trans Status Before Sexual Intimacy

Gay Star News Reports: "Last month, Wilson admitted to having sex with a 15-year-old girl who said she was 16, after telling her he was 16 when he was really 22."

"He also admitted to kissing and cuddling another girl who was also 15 at the time, and also lied about his age."

"Despite the ages, it is believed due to the ‘obtaining sexual intimacy by fraud’ charge, Wilson was only convicted on the basis he had lied about his gender history."

"Nathan Gale, development worker at the STA, said: ‘There are other factors involved in this case, the two young women involved were only 15, but in bringing these particular charges the message the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service has sent to trans people is, we will criminalize you if you fail to disclose your gender history to sexual partners."

"Source Scottish Transgender Alliance:" On 6th March 2013, a court case was heard in the Edinburgh High Court where a Scottish trans man was accused of two counts of 'obtaining sexual intimacy by fraud' for not disclosing his gender history and real age to two teenage girls. He entered a guilty plea, meaning he will face jail time. Sentencing has been deferred pending background reports."

"The Scottish Transgender Alliance is very concerned about this case and the message the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service is sending to trans people. The Scottish Transgender Alliance strongly oppose any criminalisation of trans people for not revealing their gender history to sexual partners. Obviously there are other factors involved in this case and other details which we may not know of. However we have requested an urgent meeting to clarify the position of the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service on this. We have also sent a letter to the Lord Advocate expressing our concerns."

"If you share our concerns, please consider signing our online petition "Trans Privacy Not Jail" which calls upon Scotland's Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service to urgently work with trans equality organisations to address the concerns of trans people that they risk imprisonment simply for non-disclosure of their gender reassignment status to sexual partners."



Texas Senate Hears First Ever LGBT Workplace Legislation

Equality Texas is shepherding SB237 through the Texas Senate. As a transgender Texan I will tell you this. We desperately need this legislation to become law. Many companies will hire us but have no idea how strongly our employment will be resented by staff potentially making our daily lives a living hell.

Authors Intent:

"S.B. 237 prohibits employment discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity or expression."

"Currently, employment protections are in place to protect employees and job applicants against discrimination based on race, color, disability, religion, sex, and national origin. S.B. 237 adds sexual orientation or gender identity or expression to that list."



"Twenty-one states and the District of Columbia prohibit discrimination based on sexual orientation. Several cities in Texas, including Austin, Dallas, El Paso, Fort Worth, Houston, and San Antonio provide such protections to municipal employees."

Similar bills by Rep. Mike Villarreal, D-San Antonio, went through the motions the last three legislative sessions but failed to pass. Villarreal filed a companion bill this year that will be heard by the House Economic & Small Business Development committee.

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