Ciara Watkin is now a 21 year old woman who, 3 years ago, met a man of the same age through instant messaging apps and engaged in sexual activity with him. She has now been convicted and will be housed in a men’s prison as punishment for not wearing her inverted pink triangle armband at all times.
The subject of when/if trans people should disclose their “transgender status” to people is a prickly one which is forced into discourse every couple of months largely just as a backdoor into calling transgender women in particular liars and deceptive etc. It is and always has been blatant misogyny aimed at protecting the feelings and systems created by Patriarchal societies which help keep women, people of colour, queer people and disabled people marginalised and oppressed.
Sex, love and relationships are some of the most important cultural touchpoints for all of us as a species; but they aren’t things we are allowed to explore freely; that’s the able-bodied cisgender white people’s game.
Watkin’s story isn’t an uncommon one. She met a guy online, they chatted for a few weeks, they met in person, they got drunk and they fooled around. A few days later he invited her over to his house and they fooled around some more. Normal young adult stuff. Though it must be said this is absolutely not the impression you get reading the official CPS report which uses language such as;
“she performed sexual acts upon him” and “Watkin attended the victim’s home where further sexual activity took place“ as if this adult man had absolutely no agency here and was simply forced into a situation out of his control. It feels deliberately written to monster her for doing something other young adults do all the time specifically because she is transgender and no other reason.
The reality remains; he found her attractive, he consented to sexual activity on more than one occasion, he regretted it when he found out she is transgender and he used the weight of our nation’s bigotry to crush her for it. The man has been afforded a right to anonymity not given to trans people even when we are just witnesses in cases as we’ve seen via the Sandie Peggie tribunal.
The CPS report stresses that “by failing to disclose [that she is transgender] to him, it would not have been possible for him to give informed consent to sexual activity.” and “The victim has made clear in police interview that he would not have engaged in sexual activity had he known that Watkin was transgender”. But this seems to be a line in the sand specifically drawn around transgender people.
Would somebody be able to get someone else convicted if they “lied about” / weren’t super upfront about their fertility? Can we have fuckboys arrested who lie to women about their wealth or fame to bed them? Can racists get reviled enough to cry “my informed consent” after Ancestry dot com reveals their partner has an African ancestor? What happens with all of the many intersex people who may not even know they are intersex until they’re trying for a child, for example – is that multiple counts of sexual assault?
That’s the whole problem with this entire case and why it should never have made it to court. The entire thing is predicated on the personal and individual value systems of the people involved and by extension the legal teams and court overseeing the case. Could Ciara Watkin have the man arrested for not having been upfront that he’s a nasty transphobe who would bring the weight of the state’s bigotry down on her? I for one would not have sex with anyone I knew would do that, and the lack of that knowledge is surely a breach of my informed consent too, right?
Naturally the CPS, courts and bigots celebrating this case’s conclusion don’t have answers for any of this. They don’t need them; they just wanted to see a trans person suffer for trying to live a normal life and they got that wish. Watkin will be imprisoned for 21 months and have to sign the sex offenders register for 10 years when she is released. While sentencing her the judge suggested she would be likely to offend in the same way and so locked her in a box full of men who the judge also recognised are likely to harm and abuse her. Recommendations were made for special measures to be put in place to keep her safe while in prison but it must be said; Judges don’t have a lot of control of what goes on inside of prisons.
Ciara Watkin was imprisoned for being transgender in the vicinity of a cisgender man who found her attractive and later regretted it because of widespread transphobia. The UK is not a safe place for transgender people.