Samantha Brooks, a 26-year-old British woman, stands accused of pretending to be a dude to sleep with other women. Trickery! Posing as a one Lee James Brooks, she managed to evade detection — the “not having a penis” part — by claiming she had suffered from testicular cancer, which meant her female partners couldn’t touch her genitals. Brooks would instead put a condom over an “object” during intercourse. And she bound her breasts with bandages to hide their appearance, and would say she had suffered burns to her chest when asked about them. She’s now appearing before a court, having plead not guilty, on allegations she tricked two women, including one whom Brooks allegedly carried on an eight-year affair with, even proposing at one point. It’s difficult to tell what specific law she supposedly violated, but the BBC reports “she was accused of pretending to be a man to the first female between January 2001 and December 2009 to ‘obtain sexual intimacy or contact’ with her.” So what is this, a crime of fraud? Because we certainly don’t want to go down a path where transgender men and women — whether pre-op, post-op, or never-gonna-get-an-op — are suddenly turned into criminals for being less than forthcoming about their gender identity, right? At this point we don’t know how Brooks identifies (lesbian? trans?), but maybe that doesn’t (shouldn’t?) even matter. Because if I had a nickle for every time some guy lied to me about a seemingly crucial bit of information (his age, his weight, his marital status) just to get me in bed, I’d be wealthy enough to pay for Brooks’ defense.
Aunt Sharon
I think there’s a serious lack of informed consent here. And yes, I believe transgendered people have an obligation to inform prospective partners, and not blithely assume that gender identity equals gender. This woman’s deception was downright creepy, and she should pay a price.
Devon
If a man poses as his twin brother to sleep with his brother’s girlfriend, is he a criminal?
FluffyInDrag
Look, the only reason why this could even POSSIBLY be a legal problem is because people aren’t willing to take responsibility for their own stupidity. No person is “obligated” to inform anyone about jack shit in this kind of circumstance, so if you do happen to find yourself in a situation like this where a partner is withholding information it’s your own responsibility to decide if you’re okay not knowing or if you want to back out then. Brooks did not force either woman to do anything, they came to it of their own free will and if they were “fooled”, tough shit. Learn to educate yourselves rather than punishing others for your own misguidance.
DR
As for the author’s concerns about transgendered people, well, I guess it depends on the situation. I’d imagine that being less-than-honest will cause problems when your partner finds out. Is it criminal? Guess it depends on the situation. Any time there’s sexual intimacy involved, especially penetration, I’d suggest caution. You have to be honest, or expect someone to demand criminal charges. And there are enough states which have criminal charges which apply to simple “lack of consent” that there would be a way to make it stick.
@FluffyInDrag:
It depends on the issue.
This woman used foreign objects to penetrate unsuspecting partners and passed it off as a penis. We have no idea what she used or how she used it. That’s a serious lack of consent issue. That’s bordering on rape in some jurisdictions.
You don’t get to pretend to be someone else and then cry “stupidity” when you get caught for committing fraud to get sex from girls who wouldn’t normally be intimate with you. If this woman was mannish-looking enough (hard to tell from the photos, but it appears that way), it would be easy for her to pass as a man, and if she was preying on naive women with little sexual experience, her lies would make perfect sense.
Having said that, I do give the stupidity award to the one with whom she was carrying on an 8 YEAR relationship. If I were with someone for eight years, sexually intimate with him and never saw his genitals or chest, I’d definitely have some questions.
DR
Tough call.
One woman had an eight year relationship with this person and never questioned the fact that sexual intimacy involved “him” always being hurt, bandaged, bruised, etc? That doesn’t compute.
On the other hand, she was soliciting women for sex and penetrating them with a foreign object. Depending on the jurisdiction, that comes pretty close to rape.
kayla
Umm…it’s definitely immoral to fool a girl, into sleeping with another woman… As a het girl, I would be greatly upset…but these women were kinda dumb, if you don’t have a real penis…I’d probably have a major problem…I can service myself with a foreign object anyway…But a fine should suffice, no need for jail time.
missanthrope
@Aunt Sharon:
You shouldn’t blithely assume that “disclosing” (I hate that word) as a trans person won’t get me killed. And as far as “obligation” goes, as soon as cisgender people start informing me of their cisgender status, I’ll return in kind.
P.S. AuntSharon you’re a transphobic dick to boot.
DR:
The quotes around the word him as you put is pretty insulting, his gender isn’t up to question here.
But you’re getting to core of the issue: It isn’t rape because he didn’t disclose his trans status. But that he penetrated her with something other than he told her what he was really penetrating her with does qualify as rape, as it would of anybody of any gender status.
The media coverage around this is totally fucked up.
DR
@missanthrope:
Depending on the facts it’s not insulting to use quotes around “him” as we have no idea if this person is a genuine transgendered individual or just an opportunistic woman with a fetish (like that lady from Ohio). IF it’s established that Brooks is a genuine transgendered individual and not a sexual predator, then you can tell me I’m insulting Brooks by using quotes. There’s a difference between a transgendered person and an opportunistic predator masquerading as a transgendered individual.
2011?Really?
I can’t believe there aren’t more people in 2011 that are able to separate the idea of a trans person living true to their identity (and Sorry Aunt Sharon but your gender DOES equal your gender identity, you just happen to have been lucky enough to be born with an identity that matches your biological parts) and a deceptive, perverted rapist. This is just like the fear mongering messages in the 50s-80s likening gay men to pedophiles, as if they were interchangeable. Sorry to break it to you, sex criminals come in ALL types, colors, sexes, gender identities, etc. The fact that someone is trans, and experiences their gender in a certain way does NOT equate to deception, nor does it make someone more likely to act out sexually against another being. I do think it is a good idea for a trans person to disclose their physical status in the instance that they feel like beginning a sexual relationship with someone…but aside from that sexual partner, it is NO ONE’s business. Beyond that, if this person is indeed trans, (and they may not be) that is a completely separate issue from their potential for committing sexual assault.
Shannon1981
I don’t think trans people- for their own safety- need to tell anyone anything until they are 100% sure that the person they tell isn’t going to attack them. Too many times, people finding out someone is trans has led to heinous hate crimes.
As for what this person did? The whole 8 years without telling her partner- yeah, that is a serious violation of trust/morals, not to mention penetration with a foreign object that was passed off as a penis…just a huge trust and morals violation. But I also call stupidity on the part of the 8 year woman. No way would I sleep with someone, be involved for that long, and never touch her chest or crotch. No fucking way. I’d be damned suspicious after 8 weeks, let alone 8 years.
Shannon1981
flagged for a naughty word…anyway!
I don’t think trans people- for their own safety- need to tell anyone anything until they are 100% sure that the person they tell isn’t going to attack them. Too many times, people finding out someone is trans has led to heinous hate crimes.
As for what this person did? The whole 8 years without telling her partner- yeah, that is a serious violation of trust/morals, not to mention penetration with a foreign object that was passed off as a p**nis…just a huge trust and morals violation. But I also call stupidity on the part of the 8 year woman. No way would I sleep with someone, be involved for that long, and never touch her chest or crotch. No fucking way. I’d be damned suspicious after 8 weeks, let alone 8 years.