The GutterView Transcripts

  Call defendants by gender they want, judges told Lady Justice King, the Court of Appeal judge, described the guidance as a “dynamic document” ROYAL COURTS OF JUSTICE Jonathan Ames , Legal Editor Monday December 27 2021, 12.01am, The Times Judges have been told that they should refer to criminal defendants by the gender they have chosen for themselves. New guidance instructs judges to consider whether alleged victims of sexual offences should be required to describe transgender defendants by the pronouns they self-identify with. It will give rise to concerns that witnesses and alleged victims of rape, sexual offences and domestic abuse could be forced to refer to defendants as women, even if they view them as male. Revisions to the “equal treatment benchbook”, a 540-page guide from the Judicial College, have told judges: “There may be situations where the rights of a witness to refer to a trans person by pronouns matching their gender assigned at birth, or to otherwise reveal a pe...

" loading="lazy" class="Img-module__image Img-module__image--loaded Img-module__image--fit-crop"> James Kirkup In praise  of Stonewall 18 November 2021, 6:00pm " alt="In praise of Stonewall" loading="lazy" class="Img-module__image Img-module__image--loaded Img-module__image--fit-crop"> Text Comments This morning saw a profound breakthrough in the trans debate. I say that on the basis of an  interview  Nancy Kelley, Stonewall's CEO, did with the BBC’s Emma Barnett on  Woman’s Hour .  What’s important is not really anything that Kelley said, though some of that was indeed interesting and I’ll come to it in a second. What matters is that the interview took place at all, since that constitutes a significant shift in the way Stonewall does its work. Stonewall's instinct has been to largely avoid mainstream media and other political debates about its work on trans issues that is now its primary focus. Kelley has given ...

  Coffee House Kim Thomas I stand with Kate Scottow 14 Feb 2020, 3:45pm SHARE W hy  are the police wasting time arresting Twitter transphobes when they could be tackling knife crime? That was the question asked by Boris Johnson in an  article  fo r the  Daily Telegraph  last February, in which he lambasted officers for arresting a mum for sending some rude tweets. A year on, Boris Johnson is Prime Minister. And now that mum has a criminal record. Today’s judgement was a hard sight to bear: a 39-year-old mother of two children, one of whom is autistic, listened as the judge at St Albans Magistrates’ Court found her guilty, under the Communications Act (2003), of using a public communications network to “cause annoyance, inconvenience and anxiety”. The verdict means Kate Scottow is unlikely to be able to fulfil her ambition of becoming a forensic psychologist, after completing her master’s degree in the subject last year. Her crime? To send some offensive t...

Judge who accused Stonewall of misrepresenting the law set to help oversee equalities watchdog. Akua Reindorf appointed by ministers to sit on board of Equality and Human Rights Commission. By Edward Malnick - December 18 2021 FULL TEXT A barrister and part-time judge who accused Stonewall of misrepresenting the law is being lined up by ministers to help oversee the country's equalities watchdog, The Telegraph can disclose. Akua Reindorf, who was criticised by transgender rights activists after calling for a university to reconsider its ties to the campaign group, has been asked to sit on the board of the Equality and Human Rights Commission. The appointment is likely to draw controversy, after Ms Reindorf was condemned by some campaigners for a report in which she said the University of Essex failed to uphold free speech when it dropped two speakers accused of transphobia. But insiders suggested that Ms Reindorf's place on the EHRC board, which provides "strategic oversig...

Trans sex offenders are moved into women’s jails Dr Kate Coleman urged prison bosses to take account of the impact on women of housing trans prisoners among them Mary Wright, George Mair Wednesday November 03 2021, 12.01am, The Times Twelve trans prisoners convicted of violence or sexual crimes have been accommodated in Scottish women’s jails within the past 18 months, according to figures released under Freedom of Information laws. A long-awaited review by the Scottish Prison Service (SPS) into Scotland’s transgender prison policy will consider ending the rare practice of transitioning male inmates demanding a move to female housing. Only one of the prisoners had completed transition and the other 11 were self-identifying as female, it has emerged. Dr Kate Coleman, the director of the campaign group Keep Prisons Single Sex, urged prison bosses to take account of the impact on women of housing trans prisoners among them. “The evidence clearly indicates that where prisoners of the male ...

  Kenny MacAskill, the former Scottish justice secretary, asked Police Scotland how it would deal with recording rapes after the new laws take effect DAVID MOIR/REUTERS ‘Absurdity’ of police logging rapists as women John Boothman Sunday December 12 2021, 12.01am, The Sunday Times Police have been criticised for saying they will record rapes by offenders with male genitalia as being committed by a woman if the attacker “identifies as a female”. Police Scotland said that they would log rapes as being carried out by a woman if the accused person insists, even if they have not legally changed gender. The move, reported by  The Scottish Sun on Sunday , comes ahead of proposed new laws to make it easier for people to self-identify as whichever sex they want, which are opposed by some feminist groups. The Scottish government wants to remove medical checks for those seeking a gender recognition certificate and shorten the time people have to live as their new gender before it is legal...