Trans activists in the U.K. have lost yet another legal battle. Last Friday, Judge Lady Ross ruled that the Scottish Prison Service guidance, which permitted some trans-identifying men to be held in women’s prison, is illegal based on the U.K. Supreme Court decision ruling that the definition of “woman” under the Equality Act refers to biological sex.
The women’s rights group For Women Scotland had challenged the guidance via judicial review; government lawyers claimed that to place trans-identifying men in male prisons would violate the “human rights” of these male criminals. Ross sided with For Women Scotland, stating that the government guidance was “in conflict with the requirement that prison accommodation be provided separately for men and women” and was “unlawful” in “all the circumstances.”
It is worth noting that the judge’s statement referred to “men and women” rather than “transgender women.” It is also notable that the judge expected everyone to know what she means – which, of course, they do. When the decision was released, Scottish First Minister John Swinney called the ruling “complex” and said the government would have to consider it. This week, he confirmed that the government would not appeal the ruling.
Justice Neil Gray said in a statement that the government would now move to follow the judge’s directive. “The focus now moves to implementing the law, as clarified by the court, maintaining a clear focus on the safety, well-being, and rights of all those living and working withing Scotland’s prisons,” he said. For her part, Susan Smith of For Women Scotland stated that she was “horrified” that the government had ever considered the policy “morally justified, let alone lawful.”
Smith is right. In April 2026, convicted male murderer Alexandra Stewart was charged with sexually assaulting a fellow female inmate. SPS data noted incidents in 2019 and 2022 of trans-identifying male prisoners assaulting female prisoners. Court reports from earlier this year also detailed cases of a trans-identifying male inmate who attacked another woman and threatened sexual assault at others as well as the state of fear female prisoners endured due to threats from trans-identifying male inmates.
In two other high-profile cases, convicted double-rapist Isla Bryson was lodged briefly in Cornton Vale women’s prison but was swiftly transferred to a male prison after public backlash. Trans-identifying male Katie Dolatowski, convicted of sexually assaulting a 10-year-old girl, was also placed in Cornton Vale. The backlash over Bryson was so severe it likely ended former First Minister Nicola Sturgeon’s career.
Meghan Gallacher of the Scottish Conservatives noted that the government had been “dragged kicking and screaming to finally do the right thing and apply the law,” and stated that male prisoners should be removed from female prisons immediately. She also noted that the judge’s rebuke of the government should “signal an end for Nicola Sturgeon’s extreme gender self-ID policy” that has “polluted Scottish public life for far too long.”
The ruling is the latest in a running series of losses for the transgender movement, including the 2025 U.K. Supreme Court ruling on the definition of “woman,” the Cass Review and subsequent High Court dismissal of a trans activist challenge to the ban on puberty blockers, the High Court dismissal of challenges to new government sex-segregation guidelines, and five major employment tribunal losses.
