UK court convicts teen for non disclosure of trans status prior to penetration

A recent court ruling in the UK sets into case law validating transpanic responses.

In a rather lengthy finding a British court ruled that a teenage trans man deceived a cisgender girl by not revealing his trans status prior to vaginal penetration with a strap on. The defendant admits to the sex act but denies using a dildo.

A very good breakdown of the case can be found at Complicity titled: Court of Appeal confirms: Stealth trans people having sex are criminals.

I'm uneducated about British law and American but to me there are a two points to examine. First this turns trans status into a liability.

Para 26 ".... where the complainant is deliberately deceived by a defendant into believing that the latter is a male.."

Paragraph 27: "deception as to gender can vitiate consent" making trans people guilty of deception simply for being trans. That finding is now case law in the UK potentiality criminalizing transsexuality and interex people who do not notify potential sexual partners (in writing?) prior to sexual contact.

Secondly, the case wasn't simply about being trans it was also about deception regardless of whether its about a trans of cis person. The issue is the vaginal penetration of a partner without her consent with a object other than what she expects I.E., a penis.

I'll probably get crucified for saying this but...supposing that both party's accurately described the circumstances prior to penetration I would have to agree the the ruling that aggrieved party was deceived. I am of the belief that disclosure of trans status with a potential sexual partner, before the sexual act occurs, is only right. Doing otherwise could be construed as deception. My opinion does not mean I think we as trans people are of less value, but we have undeniably different history in context with cisgender people and this history has a profound effect on whom we are today.

That being said, it us not right that all other other considerations, non disclouse of I.E. HIV status, age etc, to be considered OK, singling out trans status as the single criminalizing factor.

H/T to Lexie Cannes.

Scottish Trans and Intersex people no longer must divorce before legally transitioning but...

It's an amazing day for equality that makes me proud of my bonnie Scottish heritage. A new marriage equality bill that was made public today is arguably one of the best, but it is in need of revision to treat trans and intersex people fairly.

Up until today Scottish transgender people who wished to change gender markers legally were first required to divorce and resubmit a application for a civil partnership which was reserved for same sex couples. This process was stressful, costly and time consuming.



Under the new The Equal Marriage Bill, to be published today transgender people wishing legal gender recognition will no longer be forced to divorce first, however  if a trans person wishes to divorce a interim certificate would be issued during the process. The full Gender Recognition Certificate(GRC) will not be issued until the divorce process is complete unnecessarily delaying transition.

The Scottish Transgender Org. posted to facebook voicing their objection to Gay Star News misquoting them about the bill writing "We have NOT "applauded the bill for being tight and clearer" and have asked Gay Star News to remove that erroneous line. The Alliance commented almost immediately "Gay Star News have just apologized to us and confirmed they will correct the article. The article now reads:

Nathan Gale, a Development Worker for STA, said: ‘We are delighted that the Marriage and Civil Partnership (Scotland) Bill has been launched today.

‘We are particularly pleased that transsexual people will no longer be forced to divorce in order to have their gender legally recognized.

‘There are some outstanding issues for trans people which we will continue to press with the Scottish Parliament and Government. But this is a substantial step towards equal marriage rights for all, regardless of sexual orientation or gender identity.’

According to the Scottish Transgender org mailer:

What the bill means for married trans people where they and their spouse wish
to continue their marriage:
• An application to the gender recognition panel is made
o To confirm that the couple wish to remain married, a statutory
declaration will be submitted by the trans person’s spouse stating that
they consent to the marriage continuing after gender recognition
• If the application is successful a full Gender Recognition Certificate (GRC) will
be issued
• The Gender Recognition Panel will send a copy of the GRC to the Registrar
General for Scotland
• Regulations will be made by the Registrar General for issuing a suitable
additional revised marriage certificate to the couple (showing new name and
gender)

What the bill means for married trans people where either/both they and/or
their spouse do not wish to continue their marriage:
• An application to the gender recognition panel is made without any statutory
declaration from the spouse
• If the application is successful an interim Gender Recognition Certificate
(GRC) will be issued
• Either the trans person or their spouse can initiate divorce using the interim
GRC
• Once the divorce is completed the interim GRC is replaced with a full GRC

We are concerned that this process could lead to unreasonable delay in the granting
of a full GRC if the spouse is uncooperative and seeks to delay the divorce process.
We will be pushing to prevent such unreasonable delays being possible.

What the bill means for civil partnered trans people:

There will be two recognition routes for civil partnered trans people to select from.
First option:
• An application is made to the panel and an interim gender recognition
certificate is issued
• The couple either change their civil partnership into a marriage or dissolve
their civil partnership
• The interim gender recognition certificate will be replaced with a full GRC



It's interesting to note that by volume most responses were opposed to gay marriage - 64% of the 62,000 responses were against it, but most of those were generated by postcard and internet petition campaigns by religious groups; of the individual submissions on the Scottish government website, the vote was 65% in favour - a finding broadly in line with opinion polls.