Martin Beckford: One prisoner in 50 'identifies as the opposite sex'

[TimeLady]

The Mail on Sunday Home Affairs Editor now seems to be on the case too, after last week's spat with the lawyer.

Almost one in 50 prisoners is transgender, according to a survey of inmates conducted by the official jail watchdog. Inmates at notorious top security male prisons such as Belmarsh, Long Lartin and Wakefield said they identified as female or ‘non-binary’. Transgender prisoners are allowed to choose whether they are kept in a male or female jail and can receive other perks, including showering alone. Critics fear that some inmates are falsely claiming to be transgender to win privileges.
The survey numbers are far higher than those published by the Government. Ministry of Justice statistics published last year found only 139 prisoners said they were transgender.

Do you suppose all of them are honest?

Honesty would imply that being trans is an incontrovertible fact which you either know to be a fact, or which you lie about. However, modern transgenderism tells us that being trans is a about a feeling; a mental state; and being non-binary is a fluid condition which, by its nature, can shift and change.

Zutt

"So people like Karen White and Lauren Jeska are not transgender according to the MoJ.

But they both have been or are in women's prisons?

How does a male person get to be in a female prison if they are not classed as trans?"

If a male inmate has a Gender Recognition Certificate, then they automatically go to a women's prison. That inmate may have had no medical or surgical changes to their bodies to get a GRC. Lauren Jeska has a GRC.

The majority of men who get transferred to a women's prison are convicted as men and are sent to a men's prison initially. They then identify as female whilst in prison and are supposed to go through a case conference at the Trans Advisory Board before they are cleared to move to a women's prison.

Where offenders claim to be female when they are arrested and charged and then dealt with by the courts, they can bypass all this and get sent to a women's prison from the get-go. Karen White presumably told arresting officers and the court that he identified as female. That was enough to secure an automatic transfer to a women's prison, despite being a string of violent and sexual offences.

They’re all stunning and brave.

"But this newspaper has established that four such ‘clusters’ are already in operation in male sex offender jails – Whatton in Nottinghamshire, Littlehey in Cambridgeshire, Isle of Wight and the privately-run HMP Parc in Bridgend, South Wales".

And these "informal clusters" for transgender prisoners that have already been set up?

All of them are in jails for sex offenders.

To the surprise of nobody.

See also Stephanie Mottershead.

Who was convicted of a violent assault, with a string of convictions for other violent assaults and has spent a lot of time in male prisons.

During the gap between the time of the most recent assault and the conviction (approximately one year), he started to identify as female and apparently intended to undergo gender reassignment.

Therefore he went to a women's jail.

www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-6038645/Violent-yob-41-stabbed-man-chest-serve-stretch-womens-prison.html

Again, as he has not had a Trans Advisory Board case conference, the MoJ would not consider this person transgender.

I do wonder how you managed to get up on that high horse, Viking, without a leg to stand on.

The missed point (and one that no one seems willing to consider or admit) is that people who have dysphoria or problems with their identity often have pre-exisiting mental health conditions and might have unstable lives that lead to criminality.

So while the huge numbers might not be answered by this, there's a chance that at least some of these people are genuine and that they dealt with their mental health issues surrounding their dysphoria by committing crimes.

But as long as we continue to suggest that dysphoria is not a mental health condition, we are missing out on treating people before they get into prison.

Mental health issues seem to be currently covered up by trans diagnoses - often self-diagnosed, which makes it even worse.

And these "informal clusters" for transgender prisoners that have already been set up?

All of them are in jails for sex offenders.

A telling omission.

I LOVE Porridge. And Whitaker wasn't transsexual, he just liked make up and heels.
Anyway. The people in the ivory towers of the MoJ, and the wafty academics who inform them have created a situation whereby prisoners can get an easier stretch by saying some magic words.
The reason the policy makers have done this is that they have never known anyone who has been in prison, and never expect to be themselves.
Whereas the great unwashed who have actually known crims are rolling their eyes and smacking their heads and going "duh!"

As for "some of them are non-binary"-there's no such thing as non-binary. Or, everyone is non-binary. So it's meaningless.

I LOVE Porridge. And Whitaker wasn't transsexual, he just liked make up and heels.Transgender then

I think that is a fair point, remember.

But the answer can never be to put men in with women in a women's prison.

Because that will lead to the mental health of the women there being hugely impacted, not to mention their safety.

So while the huge numbers might not be answered by this, there's a chance that at least some of these people are genuine and that they dealt with their mental health issues surrounding their dysphoria by committing crimes.

That's a real can of worms.
It means a mental illness defence for crimes committed, which should in theory act as mitigation.
It also medicalises all the AGP fetishists against their will.
It's not a popular view but it's a good point. My issue with it is that most prisoners have mental health issues. It's massively common in both male and female prisons. I'd much rather we spent more of prisons and dealt with all these MH issues. We won't, though, and sex offenders demanding wigs will get all the attention and money, squeaky-wheel style. And the abused women with PTSD who are in prison for thefts will be ignored again.

remember I totally agree.

Well I suppose under the "new rules" then yes Captain!
But then, I'm wearing men's boxer shorts right now ( comfy in bed) so I must be trans too.

I must be trans too.

Yes, it makes you special.

IF, and it is a big if of course, this figure of 1 in 50 was representative of the population then that would mean there are 1575 trans prisoners in the male population at the moment.

There are only 3,809 in the female population in total.

And, presumably, those female numbers will include any TW already housed in the female estate.

Nope, no problem with those numbers at all.

The DM article states 'Tara Hudson has lived as a woman all her adult life but was sent to a male prison after she admitted head-butting a barman.'

In fact, Tara stated to the Mirror in 2015: "I'm actually a bloke"!
www.mirror.co.uk/news/real-life-stories/playboy-tv-chat-glamour-model-6370355

The results come from 43 different prisons, Spartacus.

"Analysis by this newspaper shows that of the 6,667 people questioned in 43 different prisons, 118 said they were transgender – 1.77 per cent of the total or about one in 57. In male prisons, the proportion of transgender inmates is higher still at 116 out of 6,263 – 1.85 per cent, or one in 54".

Mental health issues seem to be currently covered up by trans diagnoses - often self-diagnosed, which makes it even worse.

This is discussed here - in the context of children being referred to GIDS to get them out of CAHMS.

www.mumsnet.com/Talk/womens_rights/3509817-Times-16-2-1-9-Staff-at-trans-clinic-fear-damage-to-children

The idea that being trans is not a mental health issue is a great way to reduce the number of people on waiting lists for help with such issues.

A telling omission

Not a sexual fetish at all guv.

I must have missed the trans-sexual characters in Porridge.
'Whittaker' was transexual
He's not listed here: lgbt.wikia.com/wiki/Category:Porridge_characters
Personally, I think that Whitaker was no more transgender than MASH's Klinger, wearing makeup for much the same reasons that Klinger wore dresses.

Personally, I think that Whitaker was no more transgender than MASH's Klinger, wearing makeup for much the same reasons that Klinger wore dresses.
Having said that, I've just remembered that Porrige was written in the 1970s, when glam rock was all the rage and makeup for men was becoming acceptable. So the writers were reflecting that, but making it comic by having the character as a rough, masculine, decidely non-glam bloke.So, if anything, Whitaker was simply being GNC.

TRAs will play it as "poor trans are arrested at higher rates due to twansphobia"