Izabella Scott (QMUL) - 2020-21 Students

Gender as a Crime: A New Journalist Investigation into the Emergence of ‘Gender Fraud’ in UK Courtrooms

When does one’s gender identity become a crime? This doctoral thesis will re-investigate five ‘gender fraud’ prosecutions brought against gender non-conforming people in the UK since 2012, with particular focus on the trial of Gayle Newland in 2015 and 2017. The resulting book manuscript will blend true crime, memoir, and literary investigation to reveal a new and dangerous re-criminalisation of gender to a wider audience, while opening up critical questions about gender identity, sexual consent, and the law.