How is this possible? An alleged rapist has been acquitted in Sweden when it turned out that his victim was a trans woman. In essence, the judge ruled that it’s not possible to rape trans women.

The original article is in Swedish, but you can read an English version here. We keep hoping that we’re simply missing something in the translation, but it sure doesn’t seem that way.

The facts are presented thusly: a 61-year-old man attacked a woman outside her ex-boyfriend’s apartment building. The woman and her ex fought the attacker off, and he was arrested.

But at trial, according to the slightly awkward translation, Judge Dan Sjöstedt stated: “We believe that he wanted to rape… this woman. But as she proved to be a man, his plan [would] never have been possible.”

Right, because rapists are known for being picky. An appeal is likely, so there’s that. Geez.