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Demonstration for trans rights in Edinburgh
Photo: Jane Barlow/AP
The opposition Scottish Conservatives have called on Scotland's regional government to halt the transfer of a trans prisoner to a women's prison.
Just days earlier, Prime Minister Nicola Sturgeon felt compelled to reverse the transfer of another trans prisoner to a women's prison.
The case debated by Britain last week is a difficult one: Isla Bryson was convicted on Tuesday of raping two women in 2016 and 2019.
At the time of the crimes, she still had a male identity.
Since then, Bryson has gone through a transition, so as a woman she would have to be placed in a women's prison.
But activists, politicians and a United Nations human rights expert had expressed concerns, which the Scottish Government ultimately followed.
The move is scheduled to take place this year
Now there is a new case.
Tiffany Scott, formerly known as Andrew Burns, appears to have applied several times in the past to be transferred to a women's prison.
So far this has always been rejected, but now Scott is to be transferred later this year.
In the past, however, Scott has caught the eye several times.
In 2010, she is said to have attacked a nurse while escaping from a hospital.
In 2013, she was sentenced to another term for stalking a 13-year-old girl by sending her letters from her cell.
At that time, she was sentenced to preventive detention until she would no longer pose a threat to society.
Scott is also said to have been violent in other cases.
Scottish Conservative Equality spokeswoman Rachael Hamilton said Scott posed a "serious risk" to the safety of women who came into contact with her.
The Scottish Prison Service (SPS) said it would not comment on individual cases.
"Decisions by the SPS on the most appropriate place to house transgender people are made on an individual basis, based on a multidisciplinary risk and needs assessment," a spokesman said.
The discussion about the cases is all the more heated because a few weeks ago the Scottish Parliament passed a law that should make it easier for people to change their gender entry.
However, the British government in London subsequently announced that it would block the change in law because it could affect gender equality issues across the country.
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