<!--Per Wikipedia:Manual of style, use she/her to refer to Isla Bryson throughout her life.-->{{Use dmy dates|date=January 2023}}{{Use British English|date=December 2025}} {{short description|Controversial imprisonment of transgender woman}} {{pp|small=yes}} '''Isla Annie Bryson''' is a transgender woman from Clydebank, Scotland, who, prior to transitioning in 2020, raped two women in 2016 and 2019, and was convicted of those offences in 2023. Bryson was charged, and first appeared in court in 2019.
Bryson was remanded to a women's prison while awaiting trial, and segregated from other prisoners pending risk assessment. Following public backlash, she was transferred to a men's prison. The case was used to criticise the Scottish Parliament's passage of the Gender Recognition Reform (Scotland) Bill, despite it having been blocked by the British government (using Section 35 of the Scotland Act 1998).
During the controversy, the Scottish Prison Service announced an "urgent review" into the location of transgender inmates, and announced that trans people would be initially imprisoned according to their assigned sex rather than gender identity, until assessment could determine which was ultimately more appropriate for the individual.
==Background== Bryson was born in 1991 and named Adam Binnie Bryson.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Swinford |first1=Steven |last2=Gair |first2=Kieran |last3=McLaughlin |first3=Mark |title=Trans rapist Isla Bryson won't stay in women's prison, Nicola Sturgeon says |url=https://www.thetimes.com/article/minister-defiant-over-trans-rapist-isla-bryson-mhj3w9m3g |access-date=17 August 2023 |work=The Times |date=26 January 2023 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://archive.today/20230126232625/https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/minister-defiant-over-trans-rapist-isla-bryson-mhj3w9m3g |archive-date=26 January 2023}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last1=McLaughlin |first1=Mark |title=Nicola Sturgeon refers to rapist Isla Bryson as 'she' |url=https://www.thetimes.com/uk/law/article/nicola-sturgeon-refers-to-rapist-isla-bryson-as-she-5cp5l8psx |access-date=19 August 2023 |work=The Times |date=6 February 2023 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://archive.today/20230206164730/https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/nicola-sturgeon-refers-to-rapist-isla-bryson-as-she-5cp5l8psx |archive-date=6 February 2023}}</ref> Bryson married a woman in July 2016 and took on her surname, Graham.<ref name=eight>{{cite news |title=Isla Bryson: Transgender rapist jailed for eight years |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-64796926 |access-date=17 August 2023 |work=BBC News |date=28 February 2023}}</ref><ref name=mother>{{cite news |last1=Watson |first1=Jeremy |title=Isla Bryson's mother says rapist should never have been held in women's prison |url=https://www.thetimes.com/article/isla-brysons-mother-says-rapist-should-never-have-been-held-in-womens-prison-w2wpxgqtl |access-date=18 August 2023 |work=The Times |date=12 February 2023 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://archive.today/20230212180036/https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/isla-brysons-mother-says-rapist-should-never-have-been-held-in-womens-prison-w2wpxgqtl |archive-date=12 February 2023}}</ref> In September 2016 and June 2019, Bryson raped two women.<ref name=eight/><ref name=before>{{cite news |title=Rapist guilty of attacking women before gender change |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-scotland-64388669 |access-date=18 August 2023 |work=BBC News |date=24 January 2023}}</ref> One woman testified having met her as Adam Graham on the dating website Badoo.<ref name=before/> The other woman met Bryson, who was using the name DJ Blade, on Bigo Live.<ref>{{cite news |title=Glasgow court convicts trans woman of raping two women before her transition |url=https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2023/jan/24/glasgow-court-convicts-trans-woman-of-raping-two-women-before-her-transition |access-date=18 August 2023 |agency=PA Media |work=The Guardian |date=24 January 2023}}</ref>
Bryson appeared in court in July 2019 as Adam Graham, and was charged that year.<ref name=before/><ref>{{cite news |last1=Gair |first1=Kieran |title=Transgender rapist Isla Bryson sentenced to eight years in prison |url=https://www.thetimes.com/uk/law/article/isla-bryson-transgender-rapist-jailed-8-years-d7rb98wtl |access-date=18 August 2023 |work=The Times |date=28 February 2023 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://archive.today/20230228121618/https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/isla-bryson-transgender-rapist-jailed-8-years-d7rb98wtl |archive-date=28 February 2023}}</ref> In 2020, she came out as transgender, and changed her name to Isla Annie Bryson.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Johnson |first1=Simon |date=10 February 2023 |title=Trans rapist Isla Bryson has cost taxpayers almost £30,000 in legal aid |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2023/02/10/trans-rapist-isla-bryson-has-cost-taxpayers-almost-30000-legal/ |url-access=subscription |url-status=live |archive-url=https://archive.today/20230210140238/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2023/02/10/trans-rapist-isla-bryson-has-cost-taxpayers-almost-30000-legal/ |archive-date=10 February 2023 |access-date=18 August 2023 |work=The Daily Telegraph}}</ref><ref name=Sinmaz>{{cite news |last1=Sinmaz |first1=Emine |title=Trans woman Isla Bryson jailed for eight years for raping two women |url=https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2023/feb/28/trans-woman-isla-bryson-jailed-raping-two-women |access-date=18 August 2023 |work=The Guardian |date=28 February 2023}}</ref> As of May 2021, her legal name was Annie Bryson, but her legal gender was unchanged.<ref>{{cite news |last1=McLaughlin |first1=Mark |title=Sturgeon overrules allies who wanted gender rebels out |url=https://www.thetimes.com/article/sturgeon-overrules-allies-who-wanted-gender-rebels-out-s9fxcjgkv |access-date=18 August 2023 |work=The Times |date=7 February 2023 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://archive.today/20230207003126/https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/sturgeon-overrules-allies-who-wanted-gender-rebels-out-s9fxcjgkv |archive-date=7 February 2023}}</ref> In the 2023 trial, she testified that she knew she was trans since the age of four,<ref name=Sinmaz/> Bryson's mother and her estranged wife expressed scepticism about this.<ref name="eight" /><ref name=mother/> Her wife further accused Bryson of stabbing her and attempting to rape her, and said she had been trying to end their marriage for seven years, but had been unable to locate Bryson.<ref>{{cite news |title=Estranged wife accuses rapist of transgender 'sham' |url=https://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/uk/estranged-wife-accuses-rapist-of-transgender-sham/1406606772.html |access-date=19 August 2023 |work=Belfast Telegraph |agency=PA Media |date=26 January 2023}}</ref>
As of February 2023 Bryson was undergoing feminising hormone therapy.<ref name="mother" />
==Enrolment at Ayrshire College== In 2021 Bryson, awaiting trial, studied cosmetology at Ayrshire College's campus in Kilwinning for three months, where she went by Annie.<ref name="stripped">{{cite news |last=Johnson |first=Simon |date=27 January 2023 |title=Classmates stripped off in front of transgender rapist they didn't know was awaiting trial |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2023/01/27/classmates-stripped-front-transgender-rapist-didnt-know-awaiting/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230130233513/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2023/01/27/classmates-stripped-front-transgender-rapist-didnt-know-awaiting/ |archive-date=30 January 2023 |accessdate=31 January 2023 |work=The Daily Telegraph}}</ref><ref name="dailyrecord">{{cite news |last1=Herald |first1=Irvine |date=27 January 2023 |title=Ayrshire College students asked to strip in front of transgender rapist |url=https://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/ayrshire/ayrshire-college-students-asked-strip-29064719 |access-date=23 June 2024 |work=Daily Record |language=en}}</ref> Most of her coursemates were younger women. Upon learning of her later rape conviction, three of her course-mates expressed feeling shocked and violated, as she had practised applying spray tan on them as part of a one-day course, during which they had worn little clothing.<ref name="enrolled">{{cite web |last=Chree |first=Gordon |date=26 January 2023 |title=Trans rapist 'enrolled in beauty college course after sex attacks' |url=https://news.stv.tv/west-central/trans-woman-rapist-isla-bryson-enrolled-in-beauty-college-course-after-being-charged-with-sex-attacks |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230126214112/https://news.stv.tv/west-central/trans-woman-rapist-isla-bryson-enrolled-in-beauty-college-course-after-being-charged-with-sex-attacks |archive-date=26 January 2023 |accessdate=27 January 2023 |work=STV News}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://news.stv.tv/scotland/revelations-about-trans-rapist-isla-bryson-made-student-on-same-course-physically-sick|title=Trans rapist revelations made student on same course 'physically sick'|date=27 January 2023|accessdate=31 January 2023|archive-date=28 January 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230128051913/https://news.stv.tv/scotland/revelations-about-trans-rapist-isla-bryson-made-student-on-same-course-physically-sick|work=STV News|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="classmate">{{cite news|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-scotland-glasgow-west-64430756|title=Isla Bryson: Former classmate of trans rapist feels 'violated'|work=BBC News |date=27 January 2023|accessdate=31 January 2023|archive-date=30 January 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230130130309/https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-scotland-glasgow-west-64430756|url-status=live}}</ref> The college said that it had no knowledge of the charges against her at the time.<ref name="enrolled" />
Susan Smith of the campaign group For Women Scotland{{Efn|For Women Scotland is often described as either "gender-critical"<ref>{{Cite news |last=Brooks |first=Libby |date=2025-06-14 |title=For Women Scotland group mulls more legal action after UK supreme court gender ruling |url=https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2025/jun/14/campaigners-scottish-government-supreme-court-gender-women |access-date=2025-10-12 |work=The Guardian |issn=0261-3077 |quote= }}</ref> or "anti-trans"<ref>{{cite news |title=Scottish court rejects campaign appeal to axe trans inclusion in gender legislation |url=https://www.gaytimes.co.uk/culture/scottish-court-rejects-campaign-appeal-to-axe-trans-inclusion-in-gender-legislation/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211128234209/https://www.gaytimes.co.uk/culture/scottish-court-rejects-campaign-appeal-to-axe-trans-inclusion-in-gender-legislation/ |archive-date=28 November 2021 |access-date=28 November 2021 |work=Gay Times}}</ref><ref name="msnbc-2025">{{Cite web |date=2025-04-16 |title=U.K. high court excludes trans women from legal definition of 'woman' |url=https://www.msnbc.com/top-stories/latest/uk-high-court-trans-women-legal-definition-biological-rcna201564 |access-date=2025-04-28 |website=MSNBC.com |language=en}}</ref><ref name="time-2025">{{Cite magazine |last=Burga |first=Solcyré |date=16 April 2025 |title=What to Know About the U.K. Supreme Court Transgender Ruling |url=https://time.com/7278363/what-to-know-uk-supreme-court-transgender-women-ruling/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250417233720/https://time.com/7278363/what-to-know-uk-supreme-court-transgender-women-ruling/ |archive-date=17 April 2025 |access-date=18 April 2025 |magazine=TIME |quote=}}</ref><ref name="pinknews-2021">{{Cite news |last=Wakefield |first=Lily |date=23 March 2021 |title=Scottish anti-trans group's bid to block to trans inclusion |url=https://www.pinknews.co.uk/2021/03/23/for-women-scotland-supreme-court-gender-representation-public-boards-act/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210811174645/https://www.pinknews.co.uk/2021/03/23/for-women-scotland-supreme-court-gender-representation-public-boards-act/ |archive-date=11 August 2021 |access-date=11 August 2021 |work=PinkNews |quote=The anti-trans pressure group For Women Scotland has lost a legal battle to have trans women removed from a government act designed to increase the number of women on public boards.}}</ref> by various publishers.}} called it "terrifying" that Bryson's name change had allowed her to "hide her identities and gain access to young women".<ref name="enrolled" /> The lawyer Thomas Ross said that, under law, people accused of crimes are not obliged to disclose that fact. He called the situation a catch-22 for institutions, that would have to choose between putting other students at risk by allowing that person to attend, or discriminating against someone with the presumption of innocence.<ref name="classmate" />
== Trial == Bryson was tried at the High Court of Justiciary in Glasgow in January 2023.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2023/jan/25/trans-woman-isla-bryson-guilty-raping-two-women-remanded-in-female-prison-scotland|title=Trans woman guilty of raping two women remanded in female prison in Scotland|first=Libby|last=Brooks|date=25 January 2023|website=The Guardian|access-date=28 January 2023|archive-date=28 January 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230128012709/https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2023/jan/25/trans-woman-isla-bryson-guilty-raping-two-women-remanded-in-female-prison-scotland|url-status=live}}</ref> The prosecution, the advocate depute John Keenan, described how she had "preyed on two vulnerable female partners" after meeting them online. Bryson denied the rape charges, saying the sex had been consensual, and that she was "in no way a predatory male". Bryson's defence, Edward Targowski, argued that she was also vulnerable due being transgender.<ref>{{cite news |last=Gordon |first=Conor |title=Alleged rapist now in transition to be woman, court told|url=https://www.thetimes.com/article/alleged-rapist-now-in-transition-to-be-woman-court-told-djmzjpznm|access-date=28 January 2023|work=The Times|archive-date=25 January 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230125121053/https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/alleged-rapist-now-in-transition-to-be-woman-court-told-djmzjpznm|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Transgender rape accused is 'vulnerable' and not 'predatory male', court told |url=https://www.shropshirestar.com/news/uk-news/2023/01/23/transgender-rape-accused-is-vulnerable-and-not-predatory-male-court-told/ |publisher=Shropshire Star |date=23 January 2023 |access-date=28 January 2023 |archive-date=25 January 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230125212036/https://www.shropshirestar.com/news/uk-news/2023/01/23/transgender-rape-accused-is-vulnerable-and-not-predatory-male-court-told/ |url-status=live}}</ref>
Bryson was convicted of the rapes on 24 January 2023, making her the first trans woman known to be convicted of rape in Scotland. The presiding judge, Lord Scott, warned her that a "significant custodial sentence" was inevitable.<ref name="auto3">{{cite web |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-scotland-63823420 |title=Isla Bryson: What is the transgender prisoners row all about? |date=25 January 2023 |access-date=27 January 2023 |publisher=BBC News |archive-date=27 January 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230127002712/https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-scotland-63823420 |url-status=live}}</ref> Following her conviction, Police Scotland declared that Bryson had been arrested and charged as a man, and that her crimes would therefore be recorded as having been committed by a man.<ref>{{cite web|first=Alistair|last=Grant|url=https://www.scotsman.com/news/politics/police-scotland-must-record-all-rapists-as-men-say-tories-4004903|title=Police Scotland must record all rapists as men, say Tories|work=The Scotsman|date=28 January 2023|access-date=28 January 2023|archive-date=29 January 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230129064923/https://www.scotsman.com/news/politics/police-scotland-must-record-all-rapists-as-men-say-tories-4004903|url-status=live}}</ref>
On 28 February 2023 Bryson was sentenced to eight years in prison, with a further three years of supervision upon release. She was also placed on the Violent and Sex Offender Register for life. The court heard reports of Bryson having neurodevelopmental problems. In his summary, Lord Scott said Bryson continued to deny the crimes, and had claimed, without evidence, that the victims had colluded against her: {{quote|You see yourself as the victim in this case. But you are not [...] Your vulnerability is no excuse at all for what you did to these two women in 2016 and 2019. Regardless of your own vulnerability, in a period of just under three years, you raped two women who can both be regarded as vulnerable.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-64796926 |title=Isla Bryson: Transgender rapist jailed for eight years |publisher=BBC News |date=28 February 2023 |access-date=28 February 2023 |archive-date=28 February 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230228104314/https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-64796926 |url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |first=Jenness |last=Mitchell |title=Transgender rapist Isla Bryson jailed for eight years for attacks on two women when she was a man |url=https://news.sky.com/story/transgender-rapist-isla-bryson-jailed-for-eight-years-for-attacks-on-two-women-when-she-was-a-man-12821513 |publisher=Sky News |date=28 February 2023 |access-date=28 February 2023 |archive-date=28 February 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230228113352/https://news.sky.com/story/transgender-rapist-isla-bryson-jailed-for-eight-years-for-attacks-on-two-women-when-she-was-a-man-12821513 |url-status=live}}</ref><ref>https://www.judiciary.scot/home/sentences-judgments/sentences-and-opinions/2023/02/28/hma-v-isla-bryson {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230228191708/https://www.judiciary.scot/home/sentences-judgments/sentences-and-opinions/2023/02/28/hma-v-isla-bryson |date=28 February 2023}} Sentencing statement by judge</ref>}}
==Remand to women's prison== From 2014, the Scottish Prison Service (SPS) held a policy that—while allowing for case-by-case consideration and ongoing risk assessments—advised that transgender people should generally be allocated to prisons matching "the new gender in which they are living".<ref name="Brooks2">{{cite web |last=Brooks |first=Libby |date=26 January 2023 |title=Why Scotland's gender reform bill is sparking concern over trans prisoner policies |url=https://www.theguardian.com/society/2023/jan/26/trans-prisoners-in-scotland-case-by-case |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230126230348/https://www.theguardian.com/society/2023/jan/26/trans-prisoners-in-scotland-case-by-case |archive-date=26 January 2023 |access-date=27 January 2023 |website=The Guardian}}</ref> While the warrant issued by the Scottish Courts and Tribunal Service (SCTS) called for Bryson to be taken to HM Prison Barlinnie, a men's prison in Glasgow, the SPS was not bound by it and detained her at HM Prison Cornton Vale in Stirling, Scotland's sole women-only prison, where she was segregated from other prisoners.<ref name="Brooks 09.02.232">{{cite news |last=Brooks |first=Libby |date=9 February 2023 |title=Trans prisoners in Scotland to be first sent to jails matching their birth gender |url=https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2023/feb/09/trans-prisoners-in-scotland-to-be-first-sent-to-jails-matching-their-birth-gender |work=The Guardian}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last=Garton-Crosbie |first=Abbi |date=26 January 2023 |title=Trans rapist will not be jailed in Scotland's women's prison, Sturgeon confirms |url=https://www.thenational.scot/news/23278119.nicola-sturgeon-trans-rapist-isla-bryson-wont-jailed-womens-prison/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230126150541/https://www.thenational.scot/news/23278119.nicola-sturgeon-trans-rapist-isla-bryson-wont-jailed-womens-prison/ |archive-date=26 January 2023 |access-date=26 January 2023 |website=The National}}</ref> Per the SPS's report, Bryson did not have any contact with the other prisoners during her time at Cornton Vale, and thus did not pose any risk to them.<ref name="Scott-2023" />
A Freedom of Information request by ''The Times'' reported that, in October 2022, there were a total of 19 transgender prisoners in Scotland, 12 of whom began transitioning while in prison.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Wright |first=Mary |date=2023-03-27 |title=Six in ten trans prisoners in Scotland switched gender in jail |url=https://www.thetimes.com/uk/scotland/article/six-in-ten-trans-prisoners-in-scotland-switched-gender-in-jail-0jqq5hvvq |url-access=subscription |url-status=live |archive-url=https://archive.today/20250503090253/https://www.thetimes.com/uk/scotland/article/six-in-ten-trans-prisoners-in-scotland-switched-gender-in-jail-0jqq5hvvq |archive-date=3 May 2025 |access-date=2025-04-15 |website=The Times |language=en}}</ref>
=== Reactions === Bryson's imprisonment in a woman's prison sparked debate and concerns about the safety of the other prisoners.<ref name="auto12">{{cite web |last1=Brooks |first1=Libby |last2=Carrell |first2=Severin |date=26 January 2023 |title=Trans woman found guilty of rape moved to men's prison |url=https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2023/jan/26/trans-woman-isla-bryson-found-guilty-rape-not-be-held-in-womens-prison-sturgeon |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230126123242/https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2023/jan/26/trans-woman-isla-bryson-found-guilty-rape-not-be-held-in-womens-prison-sturgeon |archive-date=26 January 2023 |accessdate=26 January 2023 |website=The Guardian}}</ref>
Sandy Brindley, the chief executive of Rape Crisis Scotland, said "It cannot be right for a rapist to be in a women's prison",<ref>{{cite news |date=26 January 2023 |title=Transgender rapist Isla Bryson moved to men's prison |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-64413242 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230126122955/https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-64413242 |archive-date=26 January 2023 |access-date=26 January 2023 |work=BBC News |publisher=}}</ref> while concerns were also expressed by 10 Downing Street, where a spokesman for Prime Minister Rishi Sunak compared the case with the situation in England and Wales, where "transgender women must go through a robust risk assessment that factors in their offending history and anatomy before they can be moved to a women's prison".<ref name="auto22">{{cite web |title=Transgender woman convicted of rape will not be held in all-female prison, Sturgeon says |url=https://news.sky.com/story/transgender-woman-convicted-of-rape-will-not-be-held-in-all-female-prison-sturgeon-says-12795942 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230126121919/https://news.sky.com/story/transgender-woman-convicted-of-rape-will-not-be-held-in-all-female-prison-sturgeon-says-12795942 |archive-date=26 January 2023 |access-date=26 January 2023 |website=Sky News |publisher=}}</ref>
Dominic Raab, the Secretary of State for Justice, said a similar incident would not happen in England and Wales, where a recent change in the law would shortly be implemented to prevent trans women convicted of sex offences against women, as well as any who had not undergone bottom surgery, from being detained in a women's prison, apart from in exceptional circumstances authorised by the minister.<ref name="auto52">{{cite web |last=Bolton |first=Will |date=26 January 2023 |title=Trans woman guilty of two rapes is trying to scam courts, says wife |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2023/01/26/trans-woman-isla-bryson-guilty-two-rapes-scamming-courts-says-wife/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230126225102/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2023/01/26/trans-woman-isla-bryson-guilty-two-rapes-scamming-courts-says-wife/ |archive-date=26 January 2023 |access-date=27 January 2023 |work=The Telegraph}}</ref> Yvette Cooper, the Shadow Home Secretary, said "this dangerous rapist should not be in a women's prison".<ref name="auto22" /> Keith Brown, the Scottish Cabinet Secretary for Justice, told MSPs he trusted the Scottish Prison Service to decide where Bryson should be held: "The facts of the matter are that the Scottish Prison Service has a long track record – I'm talking 20 years and more – of assessing risks within our prisons, including those presented by the presence of trans prisoners – both for the trans prisoners themselves and other prisoners."<ref name="auto3" /><ref name="auto12" />
==== Gender Recognition Reform Bill ==== Bryson's conviction came several weeks after the Scottish Parliament passed the Gender Recognition Reform (Scotland) Bill, designed to allow trans people in Scotland to more easily change their legal sex.<ref name="auto4">{{cite news |date=26 January 2023 |title=Transgender rapist Isla Bryson moved to men's prison |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-scotland-64413242 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230126123054/https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-scotland-64413242 |archive-date=26 January 2023 |access-date=26 January 2023 |work=BBC News}}</ref><ref name="auto62">{{cite web |last=Smith |first=Peter |date=27 January 2023 |title=Trans rapist story stirs up debate over Scotland's gender recognition reforms |url=https://www.itv.com/news/2023-01-27/trans-rapist-story-stirs-up-debate-over-scotlands-gender-recognition-reforms |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230127223726/https://www.itv.com/news/2023-01-27/trans-rapist-story-stirs-up-debate-over-scotlands-gender-recognition-reforms |archive-date=27 January 2023 |access-date=28 January 2023 |website=ITV News}}</ref> The bill's opponents pointed to the Bryson case, and questioned whether it contained a sufficient level of safeguarding for women in prison.<ref name="auto12" /> The bill would have precluded anyone with a sexual harm prevention order or sexual offences prevention order from obtaining a Gender Recognition Certificate.
The UK government subsequently blocked the bill under the Scotland Act 1998, citing the alleged potential for predatory men to use the legislation to access women-only spaces for malicious purposes. Nicola Sturgeon, First Minister of Scotland, denied such a risk, and accused the UK government of attacking Scottish democracy and trying to fuel a culture war.<ref name="auto62" /> The policy analyst Lucy Hunter Blackburn addressed the Scottish Equalities Committee and warned the bill could lead to legal challenges and suggested it be amended to exempt prisons from recognising the trans status of prisoners.<ref>{{cite news |last=Farquharson |first=Kenny |date=11 February 2023 |title='Human beings can't change sex. We're not clownfish, it's fixed at birth' |url=https://www.thetimes.com/uk/politics/article/human-beings-cant-change-sex-were-not-clownfish-its-fixed-at-birth-v58zffkvv |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230212204333/https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/human-beings-cant-change-sex-were-not-clownfish-its-fixed-at-birth-v58zffkvv |archive-date=12 February 2023 |access-date=2023-02-12 |work=The Times |issn=}}</ref><ref name="Brooks2" />
==Move to a men's prison== {{see also|LGBT people in prison}}
On 26 January 2023 Sturgeon commented on the case at First Minister's Questions after the Scottish Conservatives leader, Douglas Ross, raised the issue.<ref name="auto12" /> Sturgeon confirmed that Bryson would not serve her sentence at Cornton Vale, saying "There is no automatic right for a trans woman convicted of a crime to serve their sentence in a female prison even if they have a gender recognition certificate. Every case is subject to rigorous individual risk assessment and the safety of other prisoners is paramount." She also confirmed the Gender Recognition Reform Bill had no bearing on Bryson's case. Under Sturgeon's orders, Bryson was moved to a men's wing of HM Prison Edinburgh later the same day.<ref name="auto">{{cite news |date=26 January 2023 |title=Transgender rapist Isla Bryson moved to men's prison |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-scotland-64413242 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230126123054/https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-scotland-64413242 |archive-date=26 January 2023 |access-date=26 January 2023 |work=BBC News}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |date=26 January 2023 |title=Transgender rapist will not be jailed in all-female prison, Nicola Sturgeon says |url=https://www.itv.com/news/2023-01-26/transgender-rapist-will-not-be-jailed-in-all-female-prison-nicola-sturgeon-says |accessdate=26 January 2023 |website=ITV News |archive-date=26 January 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230126135129/https://www.itv.com/news/2023-01-26/transgender-rapist-will-not-be-jailed-in-all-female-prison-nicola-sturgeon-says |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="auto12" /> In First Minister's Questions on 2 February, Sturgeon agreed with Ross's claim that Bryson was "almost certainly" lying about being transgender, as an "easy way out".<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-scotland-scotland-politics-64501436|title=Nicola Sturgeon: Rapist Isla Bryson 'almost certainly' faking trans status|work=BBC News |date=2 February 2023|accessdate=10 February 2023|archive-date=10 February 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230210235256/https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-scotland-scotland-politics-64501436|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://news.sky.com/story/nicola-sturgeon-says-double-rapist-isla-bryson-almost-certainly-claiming-to-be-transgender-as-easy-way-out-12801554|title=Nicola Sturgeon says double rapist Isla Bryson 'almost certainly' claiming to be transgender as 'easy way out'|website=Sky News|accessdate=10 February 2023|archive-date=11 February 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230211000304/https://news.sky.com/story/nicola-sturgeon-says-double-rapist-isla-bryson-almost-certainly-claiming-to-be-transgender-as-easy-way-out-12801554|url-status=live}}</ref>
Rhona Hotchkiss, a former governor of Cornton Vale prison, described the decision to send a convicted rapist to a women's prison as an "unnecessary shambles".<ref>{{cite web |date=26 January 2023 |title=Jailing of trans rapist Isla Bryson is 'shambles', says prison chief |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-scotland-64419533 |accessdate=26 January 2023 |work=BBC News |archive-date=26 January 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230126234500/https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-scotland-64419533 |url-status=live }}</ref>
==Aftermath== Following the decision to move Bryson to a men's prison, speculation arose of a potential blanket rule against accommodating transgender prisoners, after Sturgeon agreed with comments made by the Rape Crisis Scotland executive Sandy Brindley in a 27 January episode of ''The News Agents'' podcast. Vic Valentine of the campaign group Scottish Trans Alliance expressed concern that such a blanket rule would place many trans women at substantial risk if they were sent to a men's prison, but agreed that sex offenders who pose significant risk to women should not be housed with other female prisoners.<ref>{{cite web |date=27 January 2023 |title=Trans rapist prison case 'must not lead to blanket rule', says campaign group |url=https://www.theguardian.com/society/2023/jan/27/trans-rapist-isla-bryson-prison-case-must-not-lead-to-blanket-rule-says-scottish-trans |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230128042823/https://www.theguardian.com/society/2023/jan/27/trans-rapist-isla-bryson-prison-case-must-not-lead-to-blanket-rule-says-scottish-trans |archive-date=28 January 2023 |accessdate=28 January 2023 |website=The Guardian}}</ref>
On 29 January 2023, following public backlash over the Bryson case as well as that of Tiffany Scott, a trans woman convicted of stalking a 13-year-old girl, who had successfully transferred to a women's facility, the SPS announced it would pause movements of all transgender prisoners while it carried out an "urgent review" into their locations.<ref>{{cite web |date=29 January 2023 |title=Scottish Prison Service to carry out 'urgent review' of trans inmates |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-scotland-64444530 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230129162542/https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-scotland-64444530 |archive-date=29 January 2023 |accessdate=29 January 2023 |work=BBC News}}</ref> On 9 February it announced that trans prisoners in Scotland would initially be housed according to their assigned sex at birth, after which their case would be assessed to determine whether it would be suitable to accommodate them in a men's or women's facility. On the Bryson case, the report said the Scottish Prison Service's procedures had been followed, but that the SPS had received "conflicting and limited information" about Bryson beyond her immediate convictions, and recommended a "shared justice process" for the future admission of transgender people to prison.<ref>{{cite news |date=9 February 2023 |title=Trans prisoners in Scotland to be placed according to birth sex |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-scotland-64586523 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230209181624/https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-scotland-64586523 |archive-date=9 February 2023 |accessdate=9 February 2023 |work=BBC News}}</ref> The report also confirmed that Bryson did not have any contact with the other prisoners during her time at Cornton Vale, and therefore did not pose a risk to them.<ref name="Scott-2023">{{cite web |last=Scott |first=Kevin |date=9 February 2023 |title=Prison service says women were 'not at risk' from trans rapist Isla Bryson |url=https://news.stv.tv/west-central/scottish-prison-service-concludes-women-were-not-at-risk-of-being-harmed-by-trans-rapist-isla-bryson |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230209204031/https://news.stv.tv/west-central/scottish-prison-service-concludes-women-were-not-at-risk-of-being-harmed-by-trans-rapist-isla-bryson |archive-date=9 February 2023 |accessdate=10 February 2023}}</ref>
On 27 February 2023, regulations in England and Wales came into force banning transgender women "with their male genitalia intact", or those who are sex offenders, from being sent to women's prisons.<ref>{{cite web |date=27 February 2023 |title=Ban on trans women in female prisons extended – Raab |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-64781360 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230227175315/https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-64781360 |archive-date=27 February 2023 |access-date=27 February 2023 |publisher=BBC News}}</ref>
On 3 July 2023, Sky News reported that Bryson had written to the ''Sunday Mail'' to say that prison was "full of transphobic people" after a man was charged with threatening behaviour against her. Police Scotland confirmed that they had attended the prison on 8 June, and that a 24-year-old man had been charged over the incident.<ref>{{cite web |last=Mitchell |first=Jenness |date=3 July 2023 |title=Isla Bryson: Transgender double rapist complains of 'transphobic abuse' in prison |url=https://news.sky.com/story/isla-bryson-transgender-double-rapist-complains-of-transphobic-abuse-in-prison-12913882 |accessdate=15 July 2023 |work=Sky News |publisher=Sky UK}}</ref> In another letter to the ''Sunday Mail'' in April 2024, she claimed to have received an apology from the Scottish Prison Service after a female prison officer misgendered her.<ref>{{cite web |date=21 April 2024 |title=Rapist Isla Bryson claims to have been victim of hate crime by prison staff |url=https://news.sky.com/story/police-scotland-considered-logging-double-rapist-isla-bryson-as-female-on-sex-offenders-register-13226631 |accessdate=19 October 2024 |work=STV News |publisher=STV}}</ref>
On 5 December 2023, the Scottish Prison Service issued new guidelines on transgender prisoners, stating that trans women who have hurt women or girls would not be sent to a female prison unless there were "exceptional" circumstances.<ref>{{Cite web |date=5 December 2023 |title=Trans women inmates who hurt females to go to male prisons |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-scotland-67613441 |accessdate=5 December 2023 |work=BBC News |publisher=BBC}}</ref>
In September 2024, Jo Farrell, the Chief Constable of Police Scotland, said the force would not record a male rapist as female, telling Sky News "You can only commit that crime as a man". However, it was later reported that Police Scotland had considered recording Bryson as female.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Gillies |first=Connor |date=3 October 2024 |title=Police Scotland considered logging double rapist Isla Bryson as female on sex offenders' register |url=https://news.sky.com/story/police-scotland-considered-logging-double-rapist-isla-bryson-as-female-on-sex-offenders-register-13226631 |accessdate=19 October 2024 |website=Sky News}}</ref> The matter was subsequently raised at Holyrood, where the Scottish Conservatives suggested Police Scotland had "serious questions to answer" over the proposal.<ref>{{Cite web |date=3 October 2024 |title='Serious questions' for Police Scotland over proposal to record Isla Bryson as female on sex offenders register |url=https://www.holyrood.com/news/view,serious-questions-for-police-scotland-over-proposal-to-record-isla-bryson-as-female-on-sex-offenders-register |accessdate=19 October 2024 |website=Holyrood Website}}</ref>
=== Media coverage === Gina Gwenffrewi argues that the media coverage of the Isla Bryson case, particularly that of the three major newspapers the Guardian, the Times, and the Daily Mail, contributed to the othering of trans women by "presenting them as posing a predatory threat in women's spaces".<ref>{{Cite book |last=Gwenffrewi |first=Gwen |title=Contemporary Issues in Transphobic Hate and Prejudice: Transforming the Narrative |date=2026 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=9781003564928 |editor-last=Colliver |editor-first=Ben |location=London |chapter=Isla Bryson and the Burden of Representation: Inflammatory Media Coverage of Trans Women in the UK in 2023 |editor-last2=Healy |editor-first2=Jane C. |editor-last3=McBride |editor-first3=Katie |editor-last4=Gwenffrewi |editor-first4=Gina |chapter-url=https://www.taylorfrancis.com/chapters/edit/10.4324/9781003564928-17/isla-bryson-burden-representation-inflammatory-media-coverage-trans-women-uk-2023-gina-gwenffrewi}}</ref>
==See also== * Kim Marie Johansson – Swedish trans woman convicted of murder who transitioned in prison and was transferred to a women's prison * Amber McLaughlin – American trans woman convicted of rape and murder, first transgender person to be executed in the US * Tiffany Scott (prisoner) – Scottish sex offender and trans woman convicted of stalking, later transferred to a women's prison * Karen White case – English trans woman who was transferred to a women's prison and sexually assaulted female inmates
== Notes == {{Notelist}}
==References== {{reflist|colwidth=30em}}
{{Portal bar|Law|Scotland}} {{DEFAULTSORT:Bryson, Isla}} Category:2023 in British law Category:2023 in LGBTQ history Category:2023 in Scotland Category:2023 in women's history Category:2020s trials Category:Crime in Glasgow Category:High Court of Justiciary cases Category:January 2023 in the United Kingdom Category:February 2023 in the United Kingdom Category:LGBTQ history in the United Kingdom Category:Prisoners and detainees of Scotland Category:Rape in Scotland Category:Rape in the 2010s Category:Female rapists Category:Transgender history in the United Kingdom Category:Scottish transgender women Category:Trials in Scotland Category:Political scandals in Scotland