This And That In The News - Here Comes Da Judge…

"This And That In The News" is about articles in the news that have caught my eye and I want to share or comment about. These articles about judges’ rulings caught my attention today.

First the bad news…

Man ‘guilty’ of fraud for not telling girlfriend he was trans
Scottish transgender man admitted to 'obtaining sexual intimacy by fraud' in two cases, meaning he will face jail time
Gay Star News
By Joe Morgan
March 7, 2013

A transgender Scottish man was sentenced for obtaining sexual intimacy by fraud yesterday (6 March).

Chris Wilson, 25, from Aberdeen, was accused of failing to tell two teenage girls his gender history and real age.

So he is getting jail for lying, but get this…

The second girl was 15 when she became friends with Wilson two years later, but told him she was 16, the legal age to have sex in the UK.

So only the trans-man gets nailed for lying to have sex and he ends up on the sex register for the two kisses he gave her. The trans-man was legally a male and this judge thought he should have revealed his past and this case may create a precedence that would force trans-people to have to “out” themselves.

‘Following the Gemma Barker [British teen Gemma Barker was jailed for 30 months after supposedly ‘disguising’ herself as a boy to date female friends.] case, I [Jane Fae, a transgender activist] had extensive discussions with the English Crown Prosecution Service and they were absolutely clear that trans identity could not be an absolute protection from charges of sexual assault or rape.

‘This means that in practice any trans man or trans woman who keeps their gender identity to themselves runs the risk, should their partner later find out and object, of being charged in a similar manner.

So the next time you go on a date, bring a lawyer, you may need one.

In Iowa another judge rules on the “bathroom” issue…

Judge: Deputy discriminated against Iowa transgender woman
Telegraph Herald
Associated Press
Posted: Sunday, March 10, 2013

IOWA CITY — A state administrative law judge has ruled that a transgender woman should not have been ordered out of a courthouse women’s restroom by a sheriff’s deputy.

The judge decided in favor of Jodie Jones, who has been presenting herself as a woman since May 2011. The ruling by Administrative Law Judge Heather Palmer came last week.
[…]
“Frankly, I was extremely dismayed that when I told the sheriff’s deputy what the law said, she said, ‘I don’t care.’ They’re officers of the law; they should have to follow the law, too,” Jones said. “I don’t want this to happen again at the Johnson County Courthouse.”