Wednesday, 9 December 2015

Flash/Arrow 'Legends of Today/Legends of Yesterday' Crossover Review


Last year The Flash and Arrow gave us a fairly standard television crossover, where Team Arrow visited the Flash, and the Flash hopped over to Starling City to guest star on Arrow.  It was okay, but it wasn't anything special, especially as the two characters appeared on each others show again towards the end of the seasons.

This year, however, CW has given us an actual crossover event.  Gone was the idea of having two separate episodes that feature the Flash and Green Arrow on each other's show and in it's place was one cohesive story that spanned both shows and involved the whole cast of both Flash and Arrow.

The crossover event, 'Legends of Today/Legends of Yesterday', as the name suggest is not just a crossover event, but acts as a partial set up to the CW's new series 'Legends of Tomorrow'.  Legends of Tomorrow will feature both Hawkman and Hawkgirl (introduced in this crossover) and Vandal Savage (also introduced in the crossover).

Whilst some might complain about the show being used to set up another spin-off it works well enough in the world of Flash and Arrow, especially given that so much of Arrow's season is being used to introduce the mystic element of the CW's universe.  Having reincarnated Egyptian's and an immortal with a magic staff fitted into that well, without feeling too sudden or forced.



The evolution of Kendra into Hawkgirl is given enough time over the two hour event without it feeling overly quick or it outstaying it's welcome, and serves as a good contrast to Hawkman, who enters the show with a crash.  Some people have complained that the Hawks costumes are too dull and not bright enough, but when standing next to Flash, Green Arrow or the rest of the heroes they definitely stand out and look unique.

Whilst the two episodes built up the Hawks and Vandal Savage they also took the time to add a little something to each series ongoing story.  In Central City, Patty discovers the existence of Harry and shoots him, believing him to be the Earth One version of Harrison Wells, leading to Jay Garrick using a chemical to regain limited use of the Speed Force in order to save Harry life.  There's no way Patty finding out about Harry is going to be forgotten about, and the idea of the chemical that can induce the Speed Force raises some very interesting possibilities.  Will it be used to make Barry fast enough to take on Zoom?  Will it be used to give Jay back his powers so we can have a Flash/Flash team up?  Is Jessie Quick or Wally West going to become a speedster?  It certainly seems likely that one or more of these is going to happen some point down the line.

On the Arrow side of things the show picks up a story thread that I actually forgot about, Ollie's son.  Back in season two of Arrow it was revealed to the audience that long before Ollie was marooned on the island he got a girl pregnant, who moved away to Central City to have their child in secret.  Due to some terrible timing Ollie sees his ex and their child and realises that he has a son.  Ollie manages to get permission to build a relationship with his son, on the condition that he tells no one about it.  Now, due to some time travel shenanigans we get to see how Ollie hiding this from Felicity leads to the end of their relationship, but thanks to Barry giving the gang a do over this doesn't happen again, but Ollie still hides it from Felicity, meaning that there could be some drama on the horizon for the two of them.


Whilst the episode gave us plenty of action, humour and drama all whilst establishing a whole new group of characters there is one small complaint I have.  Vandal Savage.  I like Vandal Savage in the comics, I think he's a very interesting, scary and powerful villain, and was super excited when they said he was going to be the villain in Legends of Tomorrow.  Who else would be good to use in a time travel series than an immortal villain?

The only problem is, this isn't Vandal Savage.  At least, not really.  In the comics Vandal Savage has existed since the stone age.  He was a cave man who became irradiated by a meteor and became immortal.  In the CW universe he's been given Hath-Set's origin story.  Whilst that might not seem like a big change it really goes chance what the character is about.  He's tied to Hawkman and Hawkgirl, he's got different motivations and his abilities came from a different place.  It might seem like a small gripe, but it really spoilt something about the CW version of the character for me.

Amy.
xx
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Monday, 7 December 2015

Final Fantasy 7 Remake To Be Released Episodically


If you're into video games and have the Internet then the chances are very good that you'll be aware of the long called for remake of the Playstation classic, Final Fantasy 7.  Over the weekend Square Enix released the first gameplay trailer of the new game, that left many fans stunned at just how good it looked.  Shortly after this, though, they released further information, that the remake would be released in parts, rather than as a whole game.

In an interview for website Gematsu, the game's director Tetsuya Nomura spoke briefly about the decision split the game down.

'If we dedicated our time to a single release , parts of it would be summarised.  We'd have to cut some parts, and additional parts would come in few, so rather than remake the game as a full volume, we decided to do multiple parts.'


In the same interview the producer, Yoshinori Kitase also spoke about the choice to release the game in parts rather than as a single release, as well as maintaining mystique around how the game will be released.

'The idea that a remake of Final Fantasy VII would not fit into a single release was there from the very beginning.  We still can't share more information about it's multiple parts, but please look forward to future announcements.

'As you can see from the trailer, we showed Sector 1 and Sector 8, but those areas alone, I think you see a lot of density.  When you're remaking the entirety of the original version in that quality, it's not possible to fit it all in one release.'

As yet it is unclear how the game will be released, whether as downloads similar to Telltale's 'The Walking Dead' or 'Life Is Strange', or as individual retail games.  Either way, with the level of excitement around the project it's sure to sell well regardless.

Amy.
xx
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Friday, 4 December 2015

Transphobic Caitlyn Jenner Billboad Removed Following Complaints


Cranium, a signage company in Auckland, New Zealand, has faced severe criticism from the LGBT+ community and their supporters following what has been described as a transphobic and tasteless billboard that appeared to mock both Caitlyn Jenner, and the transgender community as a whole.

The billboard featured the Vanity Fair cover image of Caitlyn Jenner, photoshopped to have her wearing a Santa hat, with the slogan 'I hope your sack is fuller than mine this Christmas.  Merry Christmas from Cranium.'

The advertisement received hundreds of complaints within hours, and has been reported on globally, leading the company to censor the image.

Phillip Garratt from Cranium has apologised on Facebook for any offense caused, saying that the billboard was 'poor judgement' on Cranium's part.  He added that 'Cait is welcome at my house with my family any time.'

Cranium attempted to appease those who had taken offense at the advert by donating $1,000 to the LGBT+ organisation Rainbow Youth.

Rainbow Youth welcomed the donation, but warned that 'jokes' about the transgender community are not only insulting, but dangerous.  A spokesperson for the group commented that 'jokes' such as this will only further marginalise the transgender community, and encourage others not to take transgender issues seriously.

Some people have publicly ridiculed both the apology and the donation, saying that the donation is simply an attempt to 'buy off' the LGBT+ community and an attempt to save face and lessen the damage to the company’s reputation.


Cranium may be facing more than just public criticism, however, as it transpires that Cranium did not obtain permission to use the copyrighted image of Caitlyn Jenner, and that the billboard breaches copyright law.  It may also fall under the Fair Trade Act, as it could be seen as misleading people into thinking that Caitlyn Jenner authorised and endorsed the advert when she did not.


Amy.
xx
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Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. 'Closure' Review


'Closure' begins with what is one of my favourite scenes of this season so far, Coulson and Rosalind eating dinner and talking shit to each other.  Now, for an action adventure show set in one of the best on screen comic book universes this might seem like a strange scene to pick out, but I love the way the two characters interact.

From the very first scene that the two of them were in together there was something special there.  There was a chemistry between both the characters and the actors that let the dialogue sparkle.  It went from two older spies interacting into two amazing characters forming a relationship I genuinely cared about.  Out of every relationship in the show so far this is one of my favourites.  It's not as drawn out as Fitz and Simmons, or a sudden and surprising as May and Andrew, or as dull and doomed to failure as Daisy and Ward, it just felt real and natural.  Which is why last episode I was praying that Rosalind wasn't a part of Hydra, just so that relationship wouldn't be over.

Unfortunately, whilst it didn't end then we only had another five minutes of this amazing coupling before it all ended in tragedy.  Rosalind gets shot in the throat by Ward and bleeds to death in Coulsons arms.


Whilst this initially shocked me, it pretty quickly angered me too.  It just felt like a waste, and something we'd already seen before.  First of all, the relationship with Rosalind made Coulson more interesting and human.  There's only so much 'cool secret agent' that a character can be built on before feeling stale.  Yes, now we have an angry vengeous Coulson, which is a part of the character we've not seen like this before, it won't last.  And when it's over, he'll go back to pre-Rosalind Coulson, which is a shame.

Secondly, this removes Constance Zimmer from the show.  I like Constance Zimmer, I smile every time she pops up in a show and think she's great in every role I've seen her in.  Why wasn't she brought back for season three of The Newsroom?!  Using her in this way, to build up emotion and shock by killing her off feels like a waste of her acting ability and the character.  She brought a level of maturity and class to the show, and that's gone now too.  Yes, we still have Ming-Na and Clark Gregg, but other than that the cast are all younger.  Having another kick arse mature actor was something that made these early season three episodes great, and we've lost some of that now too.

As for 'having seen this before', does anyone remember Buffy The Vampire Slayer?  In season two the show gave Giles, the 'dad' of the show a love interest in the form of Jenny Calendar, who was killed off by a former friend turned bad guy, Angel, and sent Giles on a brief path of vengeance.  Now, replace Giles with Coulson, Jenny Calendar with Rosalind and Angel with Ward and it's the same scenario.  Except that other than the instant shock value of Rosalind's death it doesn't have the emotional punch that Giles finding Jenny's dead body in his bed did in Buffy, which I'm sure is one of the reasons every Buffy/Angel fan remembers that episode so much.  Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. seems like it tried to do the same thing here, but it just didn't have the same emotional impact, and will probably be a lot less remembered too.  All of which feels like a disservice to the potential Rosalind had.

Despite these negative factors in killing Rosalind, it did give us a hell of an opening that made the rest of the episode a fast paced ride.  Coulson was straight away thrown into a life or death situation, fighting alone against Hydra agents with nothing but his wits.  Air Freshener bomb on the candles, genius move though.


Following on from there we're given a little of everything.  We've got two kidnappings, a band robbery, torture, secret bases, the start of The Secret Warriors and Coulson diving out of a Quinn Jet and freefalling through a castle into a portal to outer-space.  All of this, and it's not even the mid-season finale!

As fast paced and action packed the episode was you just know that things are going to be even bigger and better next week.  Coulson hunting down Ward on an alien planet with an evil, immensely powerful InHuman on the loose.  Fitz trying to rescue Will.  The combined forces of S.H.I.E.L.D. and the Secret Warriors launching a full scale assault on Hydra.  It's sure to be epic.

Whilst I personally felt that the loss of Rosalind was a big mistake on the shows part, this is easily one of the best episodes of S.H.I.E.L.D. and really shows how to pack a lot of great moments into 45 minutes of television.  Easily the show at it's best.  Roll on the mid-season finale.

Amy.
xx
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Tuesday, 1 December 2015

BREAKING NEWS - Transgender Woman Found Dead in Prison Cell


News has just been released via the BBC that Joanne Latham, 38, was found dead in her cell in an all male prison Friday morning (30th November).

A prison service report says that Joanne was serving a life sentence for attempted murder in HM Prison Woodhill Milton Keynes, but was being housed in an all male facility, rather than a female one.

This is the second death of a transgender woman in an all male prison facility in just the last month.

The prison service report says that Joanne had barricaded her cell and and obscured the observation panel.  After receiving no response from her staff forced their way into the cell and found her dead by hanging.

She was officially pronounced dead at 06.30 on Friday the 30th of November.  An autopsy has yet to be carried out.

More information on this case will be reported on as it becomes available,

Amy.
xx
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US Marine Found Guilty of Killing Jennifer Laude


United States Marine Lance Corporal Joseph Scott Pemberton was found guilty of the killing of transgender woman Jennifer Laude in a Philippine court today following a lengthy trial.

The US Marine, who was stationed in the Philippines for American military exercises was arrested following the death of 26 year old Jennifer Laude.  Pemberton was charged with her killing, and was today found guilty and sentenced to 6 to 12 years in prison, along with being fined $100,000 to be paid to Jennifer's family.

The court heard that Pemberton met Jennifer in a nightclub in Ologapo City, and that the two of them went to hotel room shortly after to have sex.  Evidence was presented that showed the two of them entering the room together, but only Pemberton leaving.  Jennifer was later found dead in the room, a hotel worker saying that he found the young woman slumped over the toilet, her neck apparently broken.

Defense attorneys argued that whilst Pemberton had agreed to have sex with Jennifer, and that she had performed oral sex upon him, she did so without revealing to him that she was transgender.  The defence argued that when Pemberton discovered that Jennifer was trans he panicked, that he 'felt raped'.  A 'scuffle' followed in which Pemberton admitted putting Jennifer into a headlock, but claims that she was alive when he left the room.

Protesters outside the court, supporting Jennifer. 
Unfortunately, due to this claim that she had not told him that she was transgender, and his statement that he panicked and 'felt raped' the court lessened the sentence given to him.  The court reportedly said, 'He acted out of passion and obfuscation, in the heat of passion he arm-locked the deceased, and dunked his head in the toilet.  The killing of Laude amounted only to homicide.'

The court felt because Pemberton acted in the moment, and after discovering that Jennifer was a trans woman, despite the court referring to her with male pronouns, that the crime amounted only to homicide rather than murder.  If Pemberton had have been charged with murder rather than homicide he would have received a harsher sentence.

Mr Rogue, lawyer for the family, has stated that they are 'outraged' that the sentence has been reduced on those grounds.  'We are very angry that the court considered these mitigating circumstances', he told the press.  He went on to say that the verdict was a 'bittersweet victory' and that the sentencing was 'very light given the heinousness of the crime'.

It is unclear as to where Pemberton will be serving his sentence, as under the Visiting Forces Agreement between the Philippines and America both countries have to reach an agreement.  However, shortly after he left court the Justice Department issued a statement saying that Pemberton would be held at the Philippines military headquarters in Manila until a decision has been made.

Amy.
xx
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Monday, 30 November 2015

Transgender Inmate Tara Hudson To Be Released Early


Tara Hudson, a transgender woman who has been serving a 12 week sentence, is to be released from prison early.  Tara came to public attention and received international attention when she was initially sent to an all-male facility following her sentencing due to the fact that she did not have a Gender Recognition Certificate, despite living the majority of her life as a woman.

Tara was originally sent to Bristol Prison to serve her sentence, but after the incident was brought to public attention a petition was launched, that quickly gained more than 150,000 signatures to have her moved to a female facility.  Her case was also raised in parliament and during the Women and Equalities select committee's inquiry on transgender equality.

Despite some criticism from certain members of the public, who felt that someone who had lived their entire life as a female should be placed in danger of physical and sexual assault in male prison simply due to not having a certain piece of paperwork, Tara was quickly moved to Eastwood Park Prison, where she will be released this coming Thursday (3rd December).

Tara's mother, Jackie Brooklyn, has confirmed her release to the Bath Chronicle, and has said, 'I think it's done her quite good because hopefully she's had time to reflect.  I just don't want her to drink again because drinking can cause loads of trouble.  It's a very dangerous substance.'

Whilst Tara was luckily moved into the correct facility, the same was sadly not done for Vicky Thompson, who was found dead in her cell earlier this month.  She was also assigned to a male facility because she did not have a Gender Recognition Certificate.

Thankfully the Ministry of Justice has released a statement confirming that the policy on where to place transgender prisoners is already underway.

Amy.
xx
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Doctor Who 'Heaven Sent' Review


With a season seemingly focused on death and rebirth none other episode this year brings the idea to the forefront as much as 'Heaven Sent'.  In an episode that's very much a gamble, a whole 45 minutes with no one but The Doctor for the audience to engage with and follow, we are given a very strange, creepy and at times downright depressing story in which The Doctor is stuck in a loop, endlessly repeating events for billions of years.

As the episode begins we believe that The Doctor has just arrived in his elaborate puzzle box, torture chamber, clockwork castle after the events of the previous episode, just moments after watching Clara die.  The Doctor spends the next few days exploring his surroundings, running away from the hideous and terrifying Veil, and finally dieing in front of a giant space diamond wall before creating a copy of himself just to repeat it all again.

When I realised that The Doctor was stuck in a loop, and we saw that loop continuing on for thousands, then millions, then billions of years, with no apparent change in his actions I was beginning to genuinely question how The Doctor would ever manage to escape.  The reveal that he was slowly, painstakingly chipping away at the diamond wall by punching it, wearing it down over billions of years was a little moment of genius.

It's stories like this that push Doctor Who to it's limits, that take a show that has worked for more than 50 years and dares to try something it's never done before.  We're given a Doctor that is alone, completely and utterly, which is something we've never seen before.  Even when not travelling with a companion there's normally someone around for one of his adventures, but here it's just him.

That sense of isolation definitely added to the suspense of the episode.  If we were cutting back to a companion or if the Doctor had another living person to talk to we'd lose some of that fear and sense of isolation and vulnerability that was built up by a lone, scared Doctor running away from the monster.


The Veil, this weeks monster, was another of those genius creations that comes from such a simple concept.  A creature that never stops.  It's been done before, the terminator is a prime example of this.  But The Veil is such a creepy and disturbing foe that I'm sure it's already given many children nightmares.  A tall, desiccated corpse wrapped in sheets, slowly walking towards you, surrounded by flies, hell, it should even give adults the creeps.

Using The Veil as a way of frightening The Doctor into giving away his secrets was neat little idea, one that put The Doctor into a position we've never seen him in before, and one that paid off well.  The Doctor confirms a suspicion brought up by Davros in the first story of the season, that The Doctor didn't leave Gallifrey simply because he was bored, but because he was scared.  He was running away from the prophecy of the hybrid.

Whilst I'm sure that there will be many people who didn't like the episode, found it too 'slow' or 'boring' I found it to be an incredibly brave and interesting episode.  Yes, it was downright mad in places, and occasionally confused, but the concept was just so bonkers that it has to be given credit for being so amazingly well done.

The reveal that the diamond wall labelled 'home' didn't lead to the Tardis as The Doctor hoped wasn't a surprise to me, after a two year absence it's about time that the Time Lords made a return, especially with Missy roaming around the universe confirming that Gallifrey survived the events of The Day of The Doctor.


The final revelation of the episode comes not from the fact that The Doctor is back on Gallifrey, but in his final words.  'The hybrid is me'.  Now, is The Doctor saying that he is the prophesies hybrid that will ever save or doom Gallifrey?  If so, what does this mean, could this be Moffat going back to the long abandoned plot from the 8th Doctor's brief adventure, that The Doctor is part human?

Perhaps, or maybe he's a hybrid in a different sense.  One other possibility is that when he said 'me' he instead said 'Me', as in the name that Maisie Williams' Ashildr now goes by.  Ashildr/Me is a mix of viking and immortal alien, definitely a hybrid, and she is confirmed as being back for the finale.  It's still not clear enough at this point to make any firm predictions, after all as River kept telling us 'The Doctor lies'.

The preview for next week looks to set the stage for some exciting developments.  Will the Time Lords return to the universe, and if so will they be a force for good or evil?  Why is Ashildr/Me back, is she the hybrid?  Will Missy make an appearance to help/stop The Doctor?  Is The Doctor going to regenerate next week?

Whatever the answers to these questions I'm sure that we're in store for one hell of a finale.

As a side note, the folks over at BleedingCool.com did a little math into how many Doctors lived through the events of the episode.  On the assumption that each Doctor lives roughly 3 days, and a rough figure of 2 and a half billion years there have been approximately 304,375,000,012 Doctors.

Amy.
xx
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Friday, 27 November 2015

'Loose Women' Comes Under Fire After Transgender Discussion


No one can deny that there is a lot more talk about trans people and transgender issues on television than ever before.  We're starting to be taken seriously, we're no longer being seen as deviants or fetishists, and people are starting to understand that we face some very serious, life threatening issues.  Some would say that any discussion about transgender people on television is a good thing, that it raises awareness.  Right?

Well, in the case of ITV's Loose Women not so much. A panel consisting of Jane Moore, Gloria Hunniford, Nadia Sawalha and Andrea McLean, all cisgender women, have received criticism for a discussion on transgender issues on the show yesterday, November 27th.

The group were talking about the subject of 'oversharing' with children and the potential harm that it can cause, questioning if children should be sheltered from certain subjects for their own safety and happiness.  It was during this discussion that the subject of transgender children came up.

Andrea McLean introduced the topic, saying 'There's been a quadruple rise in the number of children, some aged 10 or under , who have been referred to the NHS and that's because of transgender feelings.  Transgender is a word that has been banded around an awful lot in the last 12 months or so, especially because of the Caitlyn Jenner case over in America.'

'One case is wonderful and lovely, how accepting people are of fluid sexuality.  But the fact that young children are now questioning their sexuality and gender at such a young age, is that refreshing or worrying?'

Obviously this was already problematic as one of the hosts had already confused gender and sexuality, something that annoyed some viewers.  Nadia Sawalha went on to add further ire when she went on to say, 'Last year my step daughter told me the 'in' thing in school was self harming, and then before that it was throwing up.  You know, fashionable words that have been taken on'.

I, and some others who have taken to social media to complain, think that comparing any of these issues to being an 'in' thing is incredibly insulting and potentially dangerous.  It pushed someone who is going through one or more of these issues away, it sends a message that if someone feels that they might be transgender they're only doing it to be fashionable because it's 'in'.  It tells parents not to worry if your child is self harming, it's not because they're in pain and need help, it's because it's a fad.  


Gloria Hunniford proved to be just as problematic when she went on to discuss a family friend, whose child, assigned female at birth but identifying as male, who has expressed the desire to undergo gender realignment surgery to remove his breasts.  

She said, 'It must be so difficult for parents to deal with that.  It would be bad enough if a child eventually had a mastectomy for health reasons, but just to look like a boy?'

No only did none of the presenters respect this young man enough to use male pronouns, using she and her throughout, but Hunniford seems more concerned with how parents of transgender teens feel than the feelings of the transgender person themselves, going on to lament the parent's feelings of their child having to have surgery 'just to look like a boy'.  God forbid she actually think this person might need that surgery for their own quality of life, or respect them enough not to use language like 'look like a boy'.

Jane Moore tried to inject some wisdom at this point, telling Hunniford 'I would say if she's got to that stage she's definitely....at teen age you know by then, don't you?  The under 10 aspect worries me.'  Despite stating that the young man probably isn't just 'confused' by that age is good, being unable to say the word transgender and misgendering them is not.

Hunniford went on to add, 'You understand when your child talks about homosexuality but being transgender is a whole new thing.'

Jane Moore ended the talk by saying, 'We shouldn't push anything on a child.  All you can ever have with them is an open relationship where they feel they can come and talk to you about it.'  The audience applauded the panel at the end.

However, it would seem that not everyone agrees with everything the panel said, calling out some poor use of language, the muddling of gender and sexuality, their concern for parents of trans children over the trans children themselves and general lack of education and ignorance on the subject.


Everyone is entitled to their own opinion, and it's a panel show where people are allowed to share those opinions, but it's obvious from every comment that the presenters made that none of them have ever looked into transgender issues, especially transgender children.  All of their opinions seem to be based on shaky general knowledge, informed by other ill educated television and radio.  

They failed to use correct pronouns, they felt that even acknowledging trans issues is somehow 'forcing' them on children, they show more concern over the feelings of the 'poor' parents, they seem not to understand the reasons for surgical procedures.  Hell, the way they were talking I'm surprised they didn't start trotting out 80's tropes and innuendos.

So many people are educated by television, the things they see and hear act as their guides on issues they might never have come across before or thought about much.  That in itself is not a bad thing, television is a medium that can be used to a fantastic effect to educate and inform, but only when done right.

When little or no research is done on such a sensitive and important issue as transgender children it can lead to the furthering of misconceptions and discriminatory views.  This was an excellent chance to do something good, even if it had helped just one member of the trans community by giving out the right info it would have been worth it, instead they've helped no one, possibly even the opposite.

If you are discussing transgender issues and don't have any trans people their to help educate and inform, please go and do just a little bit of research,  Half an hour on Google would have made their discussion very different.  It doesn't take much effort to get it right, but it takes a lot more effort to fix it when it's been done wrong.
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Wednesday, 25 November 2015

Transgender Prisoner 'I'm So Close To Ending My Life'


A female transgender prisoner has written to the UK parliament stating that during her time in prison she has been mistreated, sexually abused and is close to ending her own life.

The letter has been published as part of the evidence of the ongoing transgender enquiry, and raises some extremely serious concerns as to the treatment and safety of transgender people whilst in prison, not least because it was only a week ago that transgender inmate Vicky Thompson took her own life after being placed in an all-male facility.

The enquiry have chosen to withhold the name of the prisoner, and the facility they are currently in, but a spokesperson from the Women and Equalities Committee has confirmed that they 'know the individuals identity and are certain that it's from a genuine prisoner, not Vicky Thompson.'

The letter states that the prisoner is currently being held in an all-male facility despite being 'legally female'.  She also goes on to say that she has been the victim of rape, sexual assault and the deliberate withholding of hormones as part of her ongoing medical treatment.  She makes it very clear that she is suicidal.

She goes on to write that she has been denied access to any means to effect transition, including female gendered clothing, make-up and hormone treatment.  She says that because of this 'my safety is constantly at risk'.

'I'm legally female, the equality governor [name withheld] is constantly out to hurt me and states I'm a freak, there are no equality reps or LGBT reps.  I have no access to help or other transgender people.'

'I'm so close to ending my life.  Now [name withheld] is so horrid, and even though I've been raped/sexually assaulted they put me on VP [vulnerable persons] sex offenders wing, they are mad here.  I've gone through hell and have begged them to please move me to a female estate.  If I had already been there I would not have been raped and assaulted, I'm so down and so alone.'

In response to the letter, and the concerns raised by the public for the safety of yet another transgender woman in an all-male prison, the Women and Equalities Committee had this to say, 'While we are not able to take up individual cases, we take our responsibilities to witness very seriously and have out the individual in touch with people who can help her.'

'The individual is in contact with a support orgnisation for trans people.  The Minister for Justice is also aware of the case and the prison Governor has spoken to her about her evidence to our committee.  We have also given the individual the details of her constituency MP'.

Amy.
xx
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