4 days ago

Rapists ‘probably’ forfeit right to choose gender – Sturgeon

4 days ago Male rapists should “probably” lose the right to choose their gender, Nicola Sturgeon has said.

The former first minister, in an interview with ITV to mark the release of her memoir, also said she was partly to blame for the debate on gender recognition laws in Scotland losing “all sense of rationality”.

Sturgeon came under intense pressure in 2023 after transgender offender Isla Bryson was remanded in a women’s prison before being moved to a men’s facility.

It came during a fierce debate over the proposals to make it easier for people in Scotland to change their legally-recognised sex.

In a separate BBC news podcast, to be released on Tuesday, Sturgeon also spoke of the possibility of her moving to London, saying she sometimes feels “I can’t breathe freely in Scotland” because of the scrutiny she faces.

She told Newscast: “This may shock many people to hear, but I love London.

“Just for one thing and another. I’m spending a reasonable amount of time in London at the moment, so yeah. Maybe a bit of time down here and who knows.”

Sturgeon’s book Frankly went on sale on Monday, three days ahead of official publication, after Waterstone’s said the publishers had not imposed an embargo.

In an interview recorded earlier with ITV, Sturgeon was questioned about Isla Bryson who was jailed for eight years in 2023 after being found guilty of two rapes committed in Clydebank and Glasgow in 2016 and 2019

Having initially been charged as Adam Graham, Bryson had self-identified as a woman while awaiting trial.

Bryson was initially remanded to Cornton Vale women’s prison in Stirling, but was later moved to a men’s jail.

It led to a change in policy so that all newly-convicted or remanded transgender prisoners are initially placed in jails according to their birth sex.

Sturgeon repeatedly refused to call Bryson a man at the time.

Asked about the case by ITV, the former SNP leader said: “Isla Bryson identified as a woman.

“I think what I would say now is that anybody who commits the most heinous male crime against women probably forfeits the right to be the gender of their choice.”

When pressed about that comment, she added it was “probably was not the best phrase to use”.

The former first minister then described Bryson as a “biological male

The Bryson controversy came during the debate about Scotland’s proposed gender self-identification laws, which were passed by MSPs but ultimately blocked by the UK government.

Sturgeon told ITV: “We’d lost all sense of rationality in this debate. I’m partly responsible for that.”

In April, the Supreme Court ruled that a woman is defined by biological sex under equalities law.

The case marked a major victory for gender critical campaigners over the Scottish government, and has had major implications for how sex-based rights apply across Britain.

In another segment of the ITV interview released on Sunday, she said that in retrospect she should have paused the self-ID legislation.

“I fervently believe that the rights of women and the interests of trans people are not irreconcilable at all,” the former first minister said.

“I should have taken a step back and said, ‘How do we achieve this?”‘