For Women Scotland, the women’s rights group whose legal challenge resulted in the UK Supreme Court ruling on biological sex, has called Oxford Diocese’s message to the transgender community ‘dreadful’.
After the Supreme Court ruling in April that under the Equality Act 2010 ‘the concept of sex is binary, a person is either a man or a woman’, Oxford Diocese’s LGBTQIA+ Chaplaincy posted a message to the transgender community on its website:
‘We know many trans, non-binary, and intersex people will be personally feeling the weight of the recent Supreme Court ruling on the Equality Act 2010. We are praying you may know afresh that you are deeply loved, and beautifully created in the image of God.
‘If you, or any one you know, is struggling following the Supreme Court ruling, please get in touch and speak with one of the LGBTQIA+ Chaplains. They can also point you to other support available locally and nationally.’
Referring to the convicted transgender rapist, Isla Bryson, a For Women Scotland spokeswoman said: ‘That is a dreadful statement. I wonder if they think the image of God looks like Adam/Isla Bryson.’
The BBC reported in February 2023: ‘Isla Bryson attacked two women in Clydebank and Glasgow in 2016 and 2019 while known as Adam Graham.
‘The judge said Bryson posed a high risk of reoffending and would be supervised for three years after release.
‘The case sparked a heated debate over whether Bryson should be housed in a male or a female prison after transitioning from a man to a woman.
‘Bryson, 31, was initially remanded to a women’s jail after being found guilty, but was then moved to a men’s facility.’
A spokeswoman for Oxford Diocese said: ‘Our message does not intend to take sides, it simply seeks to acknowledge the pain and offer support for all those affected.’
For Women Scotland formed in 2018 ‘amid growing unease about how women’s rights would be affected by the Scottish Government’s plans to reform the Gender Recognition Act to allow for self-declaration of sex’, according to its website.
Julian Mann, a former Church of England vicar, is an evangelical journalist based in Lancashire, UK.