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Original poster

To wonder why an MP is lying about womens bathrooms?

709 replies

TeaKlaxon · 28/03/2022 09:33

Lucy Allen has tweeted that the Barbican has mens bathrooms and gender neutral bathrooms, but no womens bathrooms.

Lots of twitter users told her that was wrong.

The Barbican itself told her it's wrong.

But the tweet remains. AIBU to think that if an MP gets something wrong, they should apologise and remove the lie? Or to think that this is deliberate misinformation to further the myth of women being 'erased'?

twitter.com/lucyallan/status/1507076111871713282?s=20&t=D_TGgQBlnKkKZ6NEIjnzsw

OP posts:
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9
Original poster
TeaKlaxon · 28/03/2022 10:33

@Franca123

I've just figured it out! The OP is American! Bathrooms and Trump! Now it all makes sense. Have you even been to the Barbican, OP?!
Many times. Most recently just before Christmas to see Anything Goes.

And nope, not American.

OP posts:
Hoppinggreen · 28/03/2022 10:32

So 1 person (with an agenda) claims something happens despite many people on here saying they have never seen it and now we are all supposed to believe it’s an issue?
I attended an event a couple of years ago and due to the kind of event it was there were quite a few butch presenting lesbians and also quite a few Transwomen. There was no way you could have mistaken one group for the other.

Original poster
TeaKlaxon · 28/03/2022 10:32

I'm confused about this, why are gents and gender neutral so obviously signposted, yet you have to ask a member of staff where the womens are? Doesn't that seem a little strange to you op?

No.

Because I happen to have been to that pub. And I know that in another part of the building there will be a sign with 'Ladies' (or women's - can't quite remember what label they use) and the same small print, that directs people to the women's bathroom.

It just so happens that in that particular part of the building, the sign is directing people to the Gents and Gender Neutral toilets because that is what happens to be up those particular stairs.

OP posts:
girlmom21 · 28/03/2022 10:31

Being incorrect doesn't necessarily equal lying. Having male toilets and gender neutral toilets but no female toilets in one specific area of a building is strange and, unless the direction of the female toilets is highlighted in the area where those toilets are, it's logical to assume they don't exist.

If you were in a bar and someone stood in front of the gender neutral toilets asking where the ladies was you'd roll your eyes because you'd assume they were trying to make a point.

DingDongDenny · 28/03/2022 10:31

So what - you think the various lesbians who have told us about their experiences being challenged in womens bathrooms

You say 'told us' TeaKlaxon - who are you representing here?

Clymene · 28/03/2022 10:31

Main level toilets are Barbican. Gender neutral, disabled, men's.

The women's toilets have been rebadged mixed sex.

To wonder why an MP is lying about womens bathrooms?
Franca123 · 28/03/2022 10:30

I've just figured it out! The OP is American! Bathrooms and Trump! Now it all makes sense. Have you even been to the Barbican, OP?!

Original poster
TeaKlaxon · 28/03/2022 10:29

[quote girlmom21]@TeaKlaxon if you're going to post an anti-Tory post do it without proving yourself wrong.

There are plenty of Tory MP's you can have a pop at but misquoting someone and claiming they said something they didn't is misinformation - by your own definition. [/quote]
Lucy Allen's intention is clear.

To spread misinformation about the availability of women's bathrooms in the Barbican. It is all part of a myth being perpetuated that women are 'being erased'. It is blatant misinformation and the inability of some to call it out speaks volumes about their priorities.

OP posts:
purpleboy · 28/03/2022 10:28

@TeaKlaxon

Incidentally, this misinformation seems to be a habit among people who want to have a go at trans people or establishments that are inclusive of them.

twitter.com/InayaFolarin/status/1507786322601250820?s=20&t=D_TGgQBlnKkKZ6NEIjnzsw

Here's a GB News presenter making the same claim about a pub in Belfast.

The only problem is that her claim is false. She is claiming that a sign that shows where the gents and gender neutral toilets are means that there are no women's toilets. But that is a lie.

Whats even more remarkable is that it is a lie demonstrated by the very sign she tweeted which, in small print at the bottom says that there are gender specific toilets on every floor - so the sign is literally just a direction to those specific loos, not an exhaustive list of all loos in the building.

Why do these people have such a need to lie?

I'm confused about this, why are gents and gender neutral so obviously signposted, yet you have to ask a member of staff where the womens are? Doesn't that seem a little strange to you op?
Original poster
TeaKlaxon · 28/03/2022 10:28

@ScreamingBeans

Butch lesbians in the UK simply don't have the problems you say American lesbians have.

None of the butch lesbians I know have ever been challenged in a UK loo. And I know a few.

A) We're more polite and tolerant than Americans
B) We're not as homophobic as Americans
C) We're not as stupid as Americans. We can see that someone is a woman even when she's got short hair and jeans on.

D) Even if we're having an American day and being a bit stupid about what a woman is, as soon as a butch lesbian opens her mouth to make a pleasantry about the weather (which she may do if she senses that we're a bit dubious about her sex), all doubt is swept away,. Because women's voices sound different to those of men.

HTH.

Doesn't happen in the UK, you say?

divamag.co.uk/2021/01/19/news-butch-lesbians-are-facing-increasing-harassment-in-public-toilets/

OP posts:
Original poster
TeaKlaxon · 28/03/2022 10:24

Incidentally, this misinformation seems to be a habit among people who want to have a go at trans people or establishments that are inclusive of them.

twitter.com/InayaFolarin/status/1507786322601250820?s=20&t=D_TGgQBlnKkKZ6NEIjnzsw

Here's a GB News presenter making the same claim about a pub in Belfast.

The only problem is that her claim is false. She is claiming that a sign that shows where the gents and gender neutral toilets are means that there are no women's toilets. But that is a lie.

Whats even more remarkable is that it is a lie demonstrated by the very sign she tweeted which, in small print at the bottom says that there are gender specific toilets on every floor - so the sign is literally just a direction to those specific loos, not an exhaustive list of all loos in the building.

Why do these people have such a need to lie?

OP posts:
daimbarsatemydogsbone · 28/03/2022 10:23

@dfendyr Because bathroom is a fucking ridiculous term for a toilet where there are no baths.

ScreamingBeans · 28/03/2022 10:23

This reply has been deleted

Message deleted by MNHQ. Here's a link to our Talk guidelines.

Hoppinggreen · 28/03/2022 10:21

I’ve been using public toilets for around 50 years and I have never seen an actual woman I believed to be a man in there
I have seen a few men who (claimed to) believe they were women though but as long as they minded their own business and didn’t want to borrow my lipstick or pass them a paper towel I didn’t challenge them

girlmom21 · 28/03/2022 10:20

@TeaKlaxon if you're going to post an anti-Tory post do it without proving yourself wrong.

There are plenty of Tory MP's you can have a pop at but misquoting someone and claiming they said something they didn't is misinformation - by your own definition.

daimbarsatemydogsbone · 28/03/2022 10:20

@SalsaLove

Bathroom sounds nicer than toilet.
No it fucking doesn't - it sounds fucking ridiculous for any place that doesn't have one or more baths.
Sprogonthetyne · 28/03/2022 10:19

Even the person who told her dose not appear to have said anything untrue, they claim to have asked where the womans toilet were (implying they believe them to exist) and were not told, so these facilities where not available to this person, though down to the choice of the staff member not the building design.

obviously I can't prove these events happen but neither can you prove they did not.

Hoppinggreen · 28/03/2022 10:18

Whenever an anti GC person appears on here talking about “bathrooms” its Usually a pretty good signal.
The answer, I believe, it’s Mumsnet

Testingprof · 28/03/2022 10:18

@RufusthefIoraImissingreindeer

The women who have been challenged in bathrooms because they looked too butch and someone thought they were trans women or men would disagree with you

That poster did not say it never happens...just that she'd never seen it

I've never seen the ladies loo policed either

And again, I'm not saying it's never happened

Depends what you mean by policed. I’ve been told the mens are over that way by women leaving the loos or from someone tapping me on the shoulder while in the queue. So not technically policed but it’s happened and I’m not a butch lesbian but have short hair…
Original poster
TeaKlaxon · 28/03/2022 10:17

@RufusthefIoraImissingreindeer

The women who have been challenged in bathrooms because they looked too butch and someone thought they were trans women or men would disagree with you

That poster did not say it never happens...just that she'd never seen it

I've never seen the ladies loo policed either

And again, I'm not saying it's never happened

Generally when people say they've never seen X, it is to imply it doesn't happen.

If that's not your or that poster's intention then fair enough.

OP posts:
Lockheart · 28/03/2022 10:17

I agree OP.

MPs should not be making public statements about "I heard" and "so-and-so says" without basic checks.

dfendyr · 28/03/2022 10:17

@Whatalovelydaffodil

That doesn't sound good, but can we please stop calling toilets "bathrooms"!
why?
Original poster
TeaKlaxon · 28/03/2022 10:17

@Franca123

The references to Trump are bizarre. What's Trump got to do with it? Are gender critical people Trump supporters in your head?
The references to Trump relate to the claims that its not misinformation if all she's doing is relaying something she's been told.

That is a pathetic defence of lies.

The reference to Trump was because that was precisely how he tried to get away with lying as well, by prefacing most of his lies with '...lots of people are saying X' or 'someone told me Y'.

So technically he could say he wasn't lying - since perhaps someone did tell him Y. But if Y is misinformation, then he is still spreading it.

It is a disgusting tactic from any public representative, whether Trump or Allen.

OP posts:
Original poster
TeaKlaxon · 28/03/2022 10:14

@Franca123

OP. Why are you campaigning to get men into women's bathrooms? Are you a man? What is your angle here?
I'm not campaigning for anything.

I'm saying MPs shouldn't spread misinformation. You seem to disagree with that basic premise.

OP posts:
RufusthefIoraImissingreindeer · 28/03/2022 10:14

The women who have been challenged in bathrooms because they looked too butch and someone thought they were trans women or men would disagree with you

That poster did not say it never happens...just that she'd never seen it

I've never seen the ladies loo policed either

And again, I'm not saying it's never happened

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