Between 2016 and 2019, a shaven-headed thug by the name of Adam Graham carried out two violent rapes.
Graham — complete with facial tattoos akin to those sported by the boxer Mike Tyson, another convicted rapist — first appeared in the dock for these crimes in July 2019. But by the time this individual stood trial last week, a dramatic transformation had taken place.
The jury at Glasgow High Court was told that Adam Graham was a ‘dead name’ (meaning one a transgender person is given at birth and no longer uses) and that the defendant was now a ‘woman’ who went by the name of Isla Bryson. This led to the once-unthinkable spectacle of a prosecutor alleging that ‘Isla’ had used ‘her’ penis to commit a heinous rape.
This alone should be enough to demonstrate the chilling extent to which the legal profession has fallen victim to the clamour of trans activists. But what unfolded next was even more horrifying.
Between 2016 and 2019, a shaven-headed thug by the name of Adam Graham (pictured) carried out two violent rapes
The jury at Glasgow High Court was told that Adam Graham was a ‘dead name’ and that the defendant was now a ‘woman’ who went by the name of Isla Bryson (pictured). This led to the once-unthinkable spectacle of a prosecutor alleging that ‘Isla’ had used ‘her’ penis to commit a heinous rape
Cynical
Graham — the name I will be using throughout this article to describe a biological male, whatever his recent claims — has now been dispatched to an all-female prison, pending further assessment.
Graham is not the first ‘trans woman’ to be housed in an all-female prison. But this is surely the most horrifying case of that kind. Not only does Graham have two convictions for rape — he began the process of gender-transition only after being charged.
This deeply suspicious timing has led SNP MP and barrister Joanna Cherry to suggest, entirely reasonably, that Graham had ‘gamed the system’ while Graham’s estranged wife has said that she thinks he is ‘just bullsh*****g the authorities’.
As far as I am concerned, it is nothing less than the cynical exploitation of a legal system that it is happy to sacrifice the welfare and safety of vulnerable female prisoners on the altar of trans ‘rights’.
How else to view it when a smirking Graham — now sporting a blonde wig and fake nails — chose to arrive at court on at least one occasion clad in tight leggings, through which his male genitalia was clearly visible?
One can only imagine how devastating this must have been for the two victims, who were already having to cope with the ignominy of their male-bodied rapist being referred to as ‘she’.
Not only does Graham have two convictions for rape — he began the process of gender-transition only after being charged
‘Self ID’ is not yet law anywhere in the UK. Even north of the border, Nicola Sturgeon’s controversial Gender Recognition Reform (Scotland) Bill — which would allow anyone over 16 to ‘self-identify’ as the opposite sex without needing medical diagnosis of gender dysphoria — has not yet been legally ratified.
Yet those in the UK justice system are bending over backwards to accommodate the needs of ‘trans-identified’ prisoners, despite startling evidence from the Ministry of Justice showing that a disproportionate number of these individuals are convicted sex offenders.
Of the 230 inmates in the UK currently living under a different gender identity, 97 — some 42 per cent — are in jail for sex crimes. This compares to the 20 per cent of male prisoners who are sex offenders.
Isla Bryson, was previously known as Adam Graham and born a man. She began transitioning in 2020, aged 29
(The statistics do not show if the inmates are biological males living under a different gender as women or vice versa — although I would hazard a guess on the former, given that the overwhelming number of sex offences are committed by men.)
Among these jailed inmates living under a different gender identity are 44 who have been convicted of rape and 14 who forced underage children into sexual activity. Eleven were convicted of sexual assault and seven for possessing or making child abuse images.
These numbers are only likely to grow, given that the Ministry of Justice has also revealed a 17 per cent surge in trans prisoners in England and Wales during the past year alone.
Of course, this does not mean that trans people or those with gender dysphoria are somehow more likely to commit sex crimes. No: one does not have to be a world-weary cynic to suspect that many of these male-bodied inmates — like Graham, who said in evidence to the court that he experienced ‘gender issues’ from the age of four — have adopted a new female identity to be housed in the less febrile environment of a women’s prison.
Men’s prisons are tough. But the argument that trans women would be more vulnerable in them than many other groups is short-sighted. What about very young or weak men, or those with serious physical and mental health problems? Should we place them all in women’s prisons too?
Beyond the dry statistics, of course, lies a litany of abuse of vulnerable women dating back to 2017, a year after male-born trans prisoners were first allowed to request to transfer to women’s jails in England and Wales.
The risks of this bold new policy were made immediately clear when convicted rapist ‘Karen White’ — branded a ‘highly manipulative’ predator by a judge — was moved to HMP New Hall in Wakefield, West Yorkshire, and sexually assaulted two female inmates.
There have been several more offences since then. Eighteen months ago, I wrote in this newspaper about Amy Jones — not her real name — a vulnerable sexual abuse survivor who had been viciously assaulted at the all-female HMP Bronzefield prison in Surrey by a transgender woman called ‘J’.
Graham is not the first ‘trans woman’ to be housed in an all-female prison. Pictured: Cornton Vale jail
Cornton Vale (pictured) is Scotland’s only all-female prison, other jails have female wings
Dangerous
‘J’ also enjoyed intimidating female prisoners by flashing his male genitalia.
Less than a year later, another male-bodied prisoner at Bronzefield was caught having sex with a young and vulnerable female prisoner, having got her drunk on prison hooch.
The same prisoner also committed a sexual assault against a second female inmate at Bronzefield and had allegedly been heard saying: ‘I love p***y — why would I want to be in a man’s prison?’
What’s more, you only need to look across the Pond to understand how dangerous this growing trend could become.
The data suggests that there were some 5,000 transgender detainees in the US in 2020 — mostly men who identified as women.
Back then, only about 15 of them were granted requests to serve their time in women’s prisons.
Yet it emerged in October last year that in California alone, 334 male-to-female transitioners had asked to switch to women’s prisons — with 43 of those requests approved and others under review.
This trajectory is deeply worrying. Most female prisoners, whatever their crimes, remain highly vulnerable.
Many are no strangers to sexual and domestic violence and coercive control.
Now, they are effectively being told that they must accept male-bodied offenders — often convicted sex criminals to boot — into their midst.
And the one thing that unites women the world over is a fear of male violence, particularly sexual violence.
First Minister Nicola Sturgeon (pictured oon Tuesday) insisted her reforms would not give predatory men more access to women
Predatory
Of course, most men are not — and never will be — sex offenders. And most trans people live their lives entirely blamelessly. But the risks are sufficient that, until now, the legal system has been weighted so that women can ensure access to single-sex facilities in changing rooms, hospitals, refuges and prisons.
Yet the fanatical pro-trans lobby continues to exert its dangerous grip on legislators. Never has this been more evident than last month, when members of the Scottish parliament chose to reject an amendment to the Gender Recognition Bill that would have ensured those charged with rape would be unable to obtain a gender recognition certificate to ‘change sex’.
Questioned on the issue, First Minister Nicola Sturgeon insisted her reforms would not give predatory men more access to women.
How hollow those words ring now, as twice-convicted rapist Adam Graham is held in Cornton Vale women’s prison.
That Graham should be sitting there today is an insult to what I insist are his victims — and a blight on our justice system.
- Julie Bindel is the author of Feminism For Women: The Real Route To Liberation (Constable).
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