Naomi Long on transgender prisoners

'A ludicrous culture war' - Naomi Long on transgender prisoners, January 13, 2025

Transcript

00:00I'm grateful to the Minister for that clarification, but this issue of self-identification does

00:07have the potential to be a predator's charter.

00:11As we've seen from England and Scotland, predators will cynically exploit any loophole, and in

00:16all of these circumstances, it's the hard-won rights of women that are depleted and their

00:22safety diminished and compromised.

00:25In full knowledge of the disturbing statistics around the backgrounds and mental well-being

00:29of women in prison, rather than championing the rights of those who want to be women,

00:34will the Minister move to protect actual biological adult human females in the prison setting?

00:40Minister.

00:41Well, Mr. Speaker, I'm very disappointed at the tone that the Member has adopted in regards

00:47to this issue.

00:48Referring to trans people as adopting a predator's charter is, I think, scurrilous.

00:55Many of those who are trans in our system are some of the most vulnerable people in

00:59the prison system, and far from being predators, are predated upon.

01:04I think it's also important to say that what I champion as Minister of Justice is justice,

01:08fairness, equality, and dignity, and when it comes to prisons, I champion the safety

01:13of every single prisoner.

01:16Whether that person identify as female, whether they were natant female, whether they were

01:22born as a man, whether they identify as a man, it is their safety, and not any ideology,

01:30whether that be trans ideology or anti-trans ideology, that will drive the protective work

01:36we do within the prison system here.

01:39Instead of trying to divide people, instead of trying to other people and further diminish

01:44and marginalise people, it is our job in prison service to treat every person who arrives

01:49in our care with dignity, with respect, and to ensure their and every other prisoner's

01:55safety.

01:56Managing risk is what prison service does, and I commend our prison officers for the

02:02excellent work that they have undertaken in this regard, not just when it's now in the

02:07headlines, but long before it appeared in the headlines and became part of this ludicrous

02:12culture war that some people are indulging in today.