Scottish Prison Officer Sacked For Refusing to Call Male-Born Trans Prisoners ‘She’ or ‘Her’

A prison custody officer in Scotland who was sacked for saying he would not address male-born transgender inmates as ‘she’ or ‘her’ is taking legal action against one of the UK’s largest security firms with the backing of the Free Speech Union. The Mail has more.

Army veteran David Toshack, 50, was dismissed by GEOAmey during a training course only days before taking up a role as a prison custody officer (PCO) at Kirkcaldy Sheriff Court.

The father of three told a safeguarding workshop that he would not be comfortable using a transgender inmates’ preferred gender pronouns and expressed his belief that a man could not become a woman.

It sparked a horrified reaction from bosses at the firm, which employs thousands of justice workers across the UK, who said his views were against the law and company policy.

In an interview with the Mail, Mr Toshack told of his “shock” at being dismissed before he even started the job.

He said: “I’m just a normal, working class person who’s never been in trouble with the law before, not got a criminal record, lived a good life. I’ve been prepared to go and fight and die for my country, and then I have come back here and been told that there’s certain things you can’t think or can’t say.”

He was sacked the same day and forced to return his uniform and equipment with immediate effect.

He is now taking GEOAmey to an employment tribunal for unlawful discrimination and harassment for his beliefs.

The case, which is expected to take place later this year, could open the door to a flurry of further complaints from prison custody officers who have been asked to use trans inmates’ preferred pronouns.

And it will likely heap yet more pressure on the Scottish Prison Service to review its transgender policies in light of April’s Supreme Court ruling.

Mr Toshack said he has never been sacked before and is determined to speak out despite not having the financial reserves of other high-profile critics of gender ideology, such as JK Rowling.

He said: “There must be loads of folk like me who don’t have any of that, who are on their own, so I want to show folk you can stand up against this stuff.”

He is being represented by employment lawyer Margaret Gribbon who is NHS Fife nurse Sandie Peggie’s solicitor.

Mr Toshack, who spent more than a decade with the army’s medical reserves, felt the role of PCO would have been a good fit for him.

Before starting, he was sent on a mandatory weeks-long residential training course in East Kilbride, South Lanarkshire, in November last year.

Despite saying he received good feedback from instructors at his weekly reviews, his prospects came to a crashing halt on January 7th when he shared his stance during the discussion around transgender prisoners.

For Mr Toshack, a regular church-goer, it was not an inflammatory opinion to express, merely one grounded in his own religious beliefs as well as scientific reality.

He said: “I’m not some kind of pious, religious zealot, I’m just a normal person who goes to church. But calling a man a woman is just a lie; it’s not based in science. It’s not based on biology. It’s not based in reality.”

Worth reading in full.

You can contribute to David Toshack’s fundraiser here.