Last night, an SNP MSP was shouted down by the Question Time audience after repeatedly refusing to state whether transgender rapist Isla Bryson is male or female.
Jenny Gilruth, the transport minister for Nicola Sturgeon, repeatedly referred to the sexual offender as “the individual” on a BBC broadcast last night, and viewers deemed it “excruciating” television.
After two minutes of Ms. Gilruth refusing to disclose Bryson’s gender, the crowd in Glasgow, where Nicola Sturgeon has a constituency, erupted loudly.
It comes as the situation over Ms. Sturgeon’s gender legislation worsened yesterday when she refused three times to say if Bryson, who before being charged with rape was known as Adam Graham, is a woman, despite the abuser having been initially housed in a women’s prison.
The Prime Minister also implied she believes a transgender rapist is only posing as a woman, contradicting her party’s position on’self-ID’, a major tenet of the SNP’s Gender Recognition Reform Bill. Some have suggested that the issue could result in her removal from office.
On Wednesday night’s BBC show, Nicola Sturgeon’s transport minister Jenny Gilruth repeatedly referred to Isla Bryson as “the individual,” which viewers found “excruciating.”
The First Minister and her MSPs avoided answering questions concerning Isla Bryson, who was convicted of horrific sex assaults against two women while posing as Adam Graham and was initially placed in a women’s prison.
During last night’s Question Time, panelist Ella Whelan commented to Ms Gilruth of the rapist, “Most people at home will have noted that you keep referring to “The Individual.” Is Adam Graham a man or a woman? What is your response?’
The MSP responded, “This individual is a rapist” before stating that she “did not know enough about the individual in question” and that Nicola Sturgeon shared her sentiments.
Ms. Gilruth then stated that the Scottish Prison Service should be “trusted” to determine which prison a trans individual should be placed in, before Ms. Whelan interjected, “You haven’t answered my question.”
The Transport Minister for Scotland said, “Yes, I have,” before irate audience members yelled, “No, you haven’t!” Then, host Fiona Bruce stated, “I believe we should give her another opportunity to respond.”
However, shouts and scowls were heard as Ms. Gilruth repeated, “This person is a rapist.”
Ms. Sturgeon contradicted both her colleagues’ insistence that the double rapist is undoubtedly a woman and her government’s position that anyone should be permitted to legally change sex.
It comes after the SNP leader was forced into a humiliating U-turn on Bryson being imprisoned in a female prison. Bryson began transitioning only after being charged with two rapes, which were committed when Bryson identified as Adam Graham.
And in an agonizing television appearance earlier this week, Ms. Sturgeon was compelled to acknowledge that transsexual women can be treated differently than biological females.
She was again put on the spot in the Scottish Parliament yesterday. Ms. Sturgeon would only respond, ‘I believe that a rapist should be regarded a rapist,’ when asked if she agreed with her justice secretary Keith Brown that the rapist’s identify as a woman must be accepted. That is my opinion.
Because I lack sufficient information, I will not elaborate on the specific circumstances surrounding that individual’s claims to be a woman.
When asked again if Bryson was a woman, the Prime Minister responded, “This person claims to be a woman.” I stated that I lacked knowledge regarding the veracity of these claims.
The head of the Scottish Conservative Party, Douglas Ross, then presented a remark from one of Bryson’s victims, who stated, “I do not believe he is transgender.” I feel as though he has made fun of their use of it. In my opinion, he did that to make things easy for himself.
Ms. Sturgeon told MSPs, “I cannot comment on the specific circumstances surrounding that individual’s claims to be a woman because I lack sufficient information.”
In response, Ms. Sturgeon stated, “I believe that the quote narrated by Douglas Ross is almost certainly accurate.”
Fair Play For Women, a campaign group, stated: ‘Nicola Sturgeon says she cannot identify whether this individual rapist is male or female because she lacks sufficient information. Self-ID does not require you to possess any information. This is the point and the reason why it is terrible law.’
Michael Foran, a law professor, stated that Nicola Sturgeon cannot refuse to address whether a convicted rapist should be classified as a woman. She advocated a law that would allow rapists to self-identify, and her party voted against all amendments that would have added measures to prevent rapists from identifying themselves.
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