To think it is not at all sad that the Women's Institute is now only for actual women?

[SingleSexSpacesInSchools]

“Incredibly sadly, we will have to restrict our membership on the basis of biological sex from April next year,” Green said. “But the message we really want to get across is that it remains our firm belief that transgender women are women, and that doesn’t change.”

https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2025/dec/03/womens-institute-no-longer-accept-trans-women-members-april

Tellingly - they still think women can have a penis.

I’m sure their ‘friends’ will keep in touch and they can always do womanly stuff away from the WI meetings. Of course if their ‘friends’ don’t keep in touch perhaps that would be an indication that they didn’t actually support men in their organisation.

I'm really confused about this question. What possible problem could there be with a transman coming to a WI group? Arguably a transman might not want to go to something that is for women, but if they did, they'd be entirely welcome as they are in fact a woman.

Yes I do understand this. Meeting people where they are takes patience but it's more effective in getting across your point. Still, I genuinely think the broad strokes of the campaign to protect women's legal status and rights have been effective. Just look at the results. Not only legally but with the tide of (expressed) public opinion. Straight talking, even a little abrasively at times, appears to be working fine. So I think you're probably worrying too much.

AIBU is full of threads that could also belong on Relationships / Parenting / Christmas / Legal etc etc.

This is hardly a taboo subject.

Yes as are female. If they think they are men though the chances of joining the WI would be slim to non-existent I’d imagine so nothing for women to give much thought to.

HTH.

Of course that's fine - they are female

There isn't. It's just the Transman Gotcha, which the SC ruling fully addressed, and which the poster is ignoring.

Can't see why a woman who wants to be seen as a man would want to attend a woman only event. Not very validating surely?

You weren't very clear - you said:

I think it’s sad that a private organisation cannot decide for itself if it wants an inclusive organisation or not.

A private organisation (it's a charity which operates for the public benefit) which declares itself to be single sex cannot decide whether it wants to comply with the law or not.

Here we go again looking in trousers, why are trans allies so obsessed with looking in people's trousers and knickers? Utterly creepy.

Oh and of course woman can turn up, even if they like to call themselves men. They are women after all.

What are you on about? Loads of people have answered to say it's fine. Do you think we can't see the posts just because you're ignoring them?

The chances of a transman turning up at a society for women is very small as TM do not consider themselves to be women. However if a TM did wish to be considered as their biological sex for the purposes of joining in with other women, why would anyone have a problem with that?
And is there such a thing as being too old for AGP?

They're biological females, so I'd be happy.

I think it's vanishigly unlikely that that someone that had so heavily modified their body to appear to be the opposite sex would want to go along though.

Women are not support animals for elderly TW. If this upsets you so much create your own charitable association for the benefit of these elderly TW that you are so worried about

Ah but they don’t count. Only the elderly TW are deserving of our sympathy

I am also disappointed to see the Men's shed isn't an exclusively male space. Why is that, does anyone know?

Unfortunately, there are certain people (both men and women) who don't like members of the opposite sex having their own spaces.

Feminists (Julie Bindel, for example) are now admitting that campaigns that forced gentlemens' clubs and golf clubs to admit women were probably misconceived. The success of those campaigns has certainly made arguments for women only organisations a lot harder.

There are three Men's Sheds in the county I live in. One has started allowing the wives of members to join. The other two are strictly men only.

The women in the mixed group completely changed the group dynamic and a lot of the members have left. Even the husbands of the women who wanted to join weren't happy about it.

You are 100% right.

…. And there we are with the misogyny. A few posts ago you were worried about lack of groups for the elderly….so women who want a genuinely female only group must be narrow minded and unpleasant.

FFS 🙄

I'm pretty sure that the wi used to be open to men 'living as a woman' but not women 'living as a man' . I'm not sure what their reasoning would be for barring an actual female.

Yes, you have been TALKING and he did it, see the difference? A whole lot of fat your talking did in the UK, the poor Posie Parker lived in fear and was harassed, despite all our talking (don't get me wrong, I was talking too, but the effect of it?)

I'm not sure exactly what you're asking but I'll try.

Yes I would be happy for a trans identified woman to come to a woman's event. Because she is a woman.

Am I happy for a man posing as a trans identified woman showing up? No, because he is a man.

So, it comes down to whether someone looks like they are actually a man, or if there is uncertainty. If I wanted a single sex space, I'd have to take that up with the group leader or the person themselves. Eg:

Steve, I notice you have a beard and refer to yourself as a man, can I just ask why you're here as this is the women's institute? Are you a trans man?

I guess if Steve said that yes, they were a trans man but have x/y/z reasons for attending the WI (or whatever single sex space), it's either

• Believe them - I'm fine, Steve doesn't post any particular risks to me and is after all, a woman, just of a different kind. His/her reasons for attendance might be legitimate (Steve, like me, isn't necessarily safe or comfortable in mixed groups and can't legally attend any men's only groups)

• Don't believe them - so Steve is actually a man, posing as a woman (posing as a man). WTF. Major red flags. Take this up with group leader. Avoid Steve. If very uncomfortable or don't feel safe, stop attending group and report the situation to WI.

It's boring. If we click onto the topic because it's in our feed we can say how boring we find it because it is our opinion. I understand how annoying it is, but it really is boring.

Have you noticed how that hex i put on Donald Trump is working? It's started with the back of his hand. Soon that will consume his whole body until he disappears.

That writer transman, Freddy, who wanted to be father on a birth certificate, apparently once showed up at a women's walking group. And I've heard of transmen going to lesbian meet ups on quite a few occasions.

So it's not impossible.