Lied about Her Trans Sexuality to Boyfriend which He found Out When Sex Went DownBellow, NowJail?
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A jury has found a 21-year-old transgender woman guilty of three counts of sexual assault for lying to a man about her gender identity before getting physically intimate with him.
While 21-year-old Ciara Watkin’s lawyer said that her gender identity should’ve been “blindingly obvious” to her same-age sexual partner, her partner said he wouldn’t have met her in person if he had known about her trans identity beforehand.
A jury in the northeast-central coastal town of Middlesbrough, England, found Watkin guilty after a two-day trial, BBC reported. During the trial, her lawyer noted that Watkin has gone by the name Clara since age 13 but hasn’t undergone any gender-affirming medical treatments or surgeries.
Watkin and her sexual partner met on the private messaging app Snapchat, where Watkin’s profile picture displayed an image of a female cartoon character. When they met in person, she told him she was on her period so that he wouldn’t touch her below the waist. They then went on to have sexual contact.
Watkin’s sexual partner contacted police after she revealed her gender identity to him later via text message. He told police, “I wouldn’t have met her because I don’t swing that way.” When questioned by police, Watkin said she didn’t reveal her gender identity beforehand because it has been difficult for her to find relationships.
Watkin’s lawyer said that Watkin and her partner had spent a lot of time together before they became physically intimate. As such, the lawyer said it “beggars belief” that he didn’t realize Watkin’s trans identity because her voice and appearance should have made her identity “blindingly obvious.”
“She isn’t some predatory figure trying to hoodwink unsuspecting men into bed before laughing at them afterwards,” Watkins’ lawyer told the jury. “This is her life, she lives each and every day as a woman.”
“I mean absolutely no disrespect to [Ms. Watkin] when I say this, or others who suffer as she does from feeling they are trapped in the wrong body, but we say she is visibly and audibly very obviously male,” Watkin’s lawyer added.
However, social media messages from Watkin’s sexual partner showed him expressing genuine surprise upon learning of her gender identity, the man’s lawyer said. The man, who has not been identified in the media, said he felt “sick” and “dirty” upon learning of her trans identity, and felt like it “took away his manhood” and made him “look stupid” in front of his friends, his lawyer added.
“You can be perfectly sure he would not have consented if he had known the true state of affairs,” his lawyer stated. Watkin’s lawyer contended that the man only contacted the police after being mocked by his friends, saying, “It is clear the reaction of his mates is the most concerning thing to him.”
In the end, the jury ruled that Watkin’s lack of disclosure made it impossible for her sexual partner to provide his informed consent to sex. She now faces possible jail time and must register as a sex offender. While the judge in the case has asked authorities to consider safety factors surrounding her possible imprisonment, as a majority of trans women are housed in cisgender male detention facilities.
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