Meet the Other Phone. Child-safe in minutes.

Meet the Other Phone.
Child-safe in minutes.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

To be annoyed I had to watch GB News to see coverage of anti women protestors at Southwark

277 replies

SingleSexSpacesInSchools · 15/02/2026 12:35

A mother, Miranda Newsom, had her gym membership suspended for a year after reporting an "unmistakably male" trans woman in the female changing room.

Why isn't this on the BBC? The reporter in the video is doing genuinely impressive investigative journalism, didn't we used to have the national broadcaster to do this sort of thing?

- YouTube

Enjoy the videos and music that you love, upload original content and share it all with friends, family and the world on YouTube.

https://youtu.be/V_9lUXjOKt0?si=67Nz9ECFAjJM_h2V

OP posts:
Thread gallery
13
LVhandbagsatdawn · 17/02/2026 12:52

ILikeDungs · 17/02/2026 12:22

The fact that Miranda was right and the man was wrong for being in the changing room is not a cover for bad behaviour, a carte blanche to do what you like, nor an excuse to avoid natural consequences. Shouting at someone in the changing rooms is likely to get you banned from most places.

"It's not what she said it's they way that she said it". Ok.

I mean.. yes?

You must understand there's a right and wrong way to do things?

Complaining to the gym management about their policy - absolutely.

Confronting and "becoming agitated" at a member of the public who is following gym policy - not ok.

AccidentallyWesAnderson · 17/02/2026 12:53

Verytall · 17/02/2026 12:49

Perhaps calling people fuckwits, shouting at people in changing rooms and declaring 'anyone with a penis is a threat' isn't the best strategy for that then.

Womens sports is a new one. I remember watching someone interview TERF protesters at a sporting event. They were asked about women's sports they watched, female athletes they admired, sports they were concerned were affected, how often trans people in sports were affecting women. It was a long video. Not one could give an answer. That's how much they cared about women's sports.

Sure you did.

Anyone who thinks men who prefer dressing in a gender non conforming way automatically means they are magically now a woman, an adult human female, and can access therefore women’s spaces, rip up the safeguarding rule book, and take sporting places with all the physiological advantages being male has, is, in my opinion, a fuckwit.

EasternStandard · 17/02/2026 12:58

AccidentallyWesAnderson · 17/02/2026 12:42

Nah, I just want women to retain their sex based spaces and sports. Women have the right to these spaces for privacy and dignity reasons, away from boundary pushing men and their supporters. It’s quite simple really.

Of course. Most people can see that.

ILikeDungs · 17/02/2026 13:02

LVhandbagsatdawn · 17/02/2026 12:52

I mean.. yes?

You must understand there's a right and wrong way to do things?

Complaining to the gym management about their policy - absolutely.

Confronting and "becoming agitated" at a member of the public who is following gym policy - not ok.

You admit their policy is wrong. The gym does not. There was no "right" way for this woman to complain.

Verytall · 17/02/2026 13:04

AccidentallyWesAnderson · 17/02/2026 12:53

Sure you did.

Anyone who thinks men who prefer dressing in a gender non conforming way automatically means they are magically now a woman, an adult human female, and can access therefore women’s spaces, rip up the safeguarding rule book, and take sporting places with all the physiological advantages being male has, is, in my opinion, a fuckwit.

I don't have a link to the original as it was on my social media, but depressingly its not unusual to find people protesting who don't care about what they're protesting 'for', just those they're protesting against. There's another here

https://www.lgbtqnation.com/2026/01/quick-hit-anti-trans-protestors-embarrassingly-cant-even-name-5-women-pro-athletes/

LVhandbagsatdawn · 17/02/2026 13:09

ILikeDungs · 17/02/2026 13:02

You admit their policy is wrong. The gym does not. There was no "right" way for this woman to complain.

Of course there was. She raises the issues with the policy with management. If they don't listen, you campaign, canvas, petition, speak to your local MP etc.

Confronting a member of the public (who doesn't set policy) is not the way to go about it. It achieves nothing.

AccidentallyWesAnderson · 17/02/2026 13:18

Verytall · 17/02/2026 13:04

I don't have a link to the original as it was on my social media, but depressingly its not unusual to find people protesting who don't care about what they're protesting 'for', just those they're protesting against. There's another here

https://www.lgbtqnation.com/2026/01/quick-hit-anti-trans-protestors-embarrassingly-cant-even-name-5-women-pro-athletes/

LGBTQ nation. Yeah that’s not going to be biased and spun to fuck 🤣. What source is next. Pink News? The Guardian?

I’m not clicking the link but I’m not seeing how not being able to name what’s it, five? pro female athletes is embarrassing? And how that means women shouldn’t have sex based spaces and sports.

Verytall · 17/02/2026 13:29

AccidentallyWesAnderson · 17/02/2026 13:18

LGBTQ nation. Yeah that’s not going to be biased and spun to fuck 🤣. What source is next. Pink News? The Guardian?

I’m not clicking the link but I’m not seeing how not being able to name what’s it, five? pro female athletes is embarrassing? And how that means women shouldn’t have sex based spaces and sports.

Edited

I wasn't asking you to read the article. You can see the protestors answer for themselves, in their own voices, just how much they're interested in women's sports. Or perhaps you don't want to hear what your allies have to say.

AccidentallyWesAnderson · 17/02/2026 13:32

Verytall · 17/02/2026 13:29

I wasn't asking you to read the article. You can see the protestors answer for themselves, in their own voices, just how much they're interested in women's sports. Or perhaps you don't want to hear what your allies have to say.

I don’t care if they can name 1, 5 or 10 female athletes, or none. The point is sex based sports remain for women, the ones with vaginas. You can think this and not be into sports at all. I’m not sure why this is difficult to understand.

Verytall · 17/02/2026 13:36

AccidentallyWesAnderson · 17/02/2026 13:32

I don’t care if they can name 1, 5 or 10 female athletes, or none. The point is sex based sports remain for women, the ones with vaginas. You can think this and not be into sports at all. I’m not sure why this is difficult to understand.

So well informed about the subject you're so passionate about, I'm sure you'll convince many new people with that argument. Well done

AccidentallyWesAnderson · 17/02/2026 13:40

Verytall · 17/02/2026 13:36

So well informed about the subject you're so passionate about, I'm sure you'll convince many new people with that argument. Well done

What subject do I need to be informed about? I’m not even sure what point you’re trying to make at this stage, do you?!

That women deserve single sex spaces and sports for fairness, dignity, privacy. The majority agree with me. I’m well informed on this, it’s basic common sense. Yet to see you make any credible argument as to why they shouldn’t, except the usual ‘be kind’.

TheKeatingFive · 17/02/2026 13:41

Verytall · 17/02/2026 13:36

So well informed about the subject you're so passionate about, I'm sure you'll convince many new people with that argument. Well done

Can you tell us (and anyone reading this thread) why you dont believe women should have their legal rights to single sex sports and spaces upheld?

Catiette · 17/02/2026 13:49

Verytall · 17/02/2026 12:49

Perhaps calling people fuckwits, shouting at people in changing rooms and declaring 'anyone with a penis is a threat' isn't the best strategy for that then.

Womens sports is a new one. I remember watching someone interview TERF protesters at a sporting event. They were asked about women's sports they watched, female athletes they admired, sports they were concerned were affected, how often trans people in sports were affecting women. It was a long video. Not one could give an answer. That's how much they cared about women's sports.

This is missing the point quite spectacularly. The issue is women's sex-based rights - of which the right to safe and fair sport is one branch.

Your post above is analagous to quizzing me on Taliban politics, or the names of the female judges now in hiding - and then, when I come up blank, declaring that I was therefore clearly only ever pretending to give a damn about the women of Afghanistan.

Verytall · 17/02/2026 13:51

TheKeatingFive · 17/02/2026 13:41

Can you tell us (and anyone reading this thread) why you dont believe women should have their legal rights to single sex sports and spaces upheld?

I have written about the first point earlier in the thread, though quelle suprise you don't have the basic manners to read what I'd written, and I daresay you won't bother to read this post either, but what the hell. I believe that trans men should use the men's and trans women's should use the women's. As to sports, you're assuming a view I haven't given. The sports situation is complicated and nuanced depending on the sport, it is a very, very minor problem when you look at the problems facing women in sports, and the sport that I personally participate in has rules in comps that everyone seems happy with. There are only two known trans people who compete in the sport I'm in, and only at a novice/local comp level so it's not our primary focus. We're a bit more interested in things like having equal competition prizes and fair weight categories, the things that affect 100% of our female competitors.

Verytall · 17/02/2026 13:52

Catiette · 17/02/2026 13:49

This is missing the point quite spectacularly. The issue is women's sex-based rights - of which the right to safe and fair sport is one branch.

Your post above is analagous to quizzing me on Taliban politics, or the names of the female judges now in hiding - and then, when I come up blank, declaring that I was therefore clearly only ever pretending to give a damn about the women of Afghanistan.

Maybe you'd like living under the Taliban, they don't like trans people either.

EasternStandard · 17/02/2026 13:55

TheKeatingFive · 17/02/2026 13:41

Can you tell us (and anyone reading this thread) why you dont believe women should have their legal rights to single sex sports and spaces upheld?

Why don’t you want this @Verytall?

TheKeatingFive · 17/02/2026 13:56

Verytall · 17/02/2026 13:51

I have written about the first point earlier in the thread, though quelle suprise you don't have the basic manners to read what I'd written, and I daresay you won't bother to read this post either, but what the hell. I believe that trans men should use the men's and trans women's should use the women's. As to sports, you're assuming a view I haven't given. The sports situation is complicated and nuanced depending on the sport, it is a very, very minor problem when you look at the problems facing women in sports, and the sport that I personally participate in has rules in comps that everyone seems happy with. There are only two known trans people who compete in the sport I'm in, and only at a novice/local comp level so it's not our primary focus. We're a bit more interested in things like having equal competition prizes and fair weight categories, the things that affect 100% of our female competitors.

Why do you think men should have access to women's spaces? On what grounds?

Why do you get to decree it's a 'minor problem' in women's sports? What about all the women losing titles and opportunities because of it?

https://www.ndtv.com/world-news/female-athletes-lost-nearly-900-medals-to-transgender-competitors-un-report-6857482/amp/1

lifeturnsonadime · 17/02/2026 13:57

Being able to name 5 professional female athletes has nothing to do with whether women should have access to single sex spaces or sport. Incidentially I can easily name more than 5!

Sexism is the reason that women's sport has struggled to compete with men's sport in terms of TV viewing etc, this is starting to change thankfully.

What you propose is to make it harder for women to have fairness in sport. Thankfully the vast majority of right minded people disagree with you and most sporting bodies have now banned men who identify as women from playing women's sport.

Arran2024 · 17/02/2026 13:58

Verytall · 17/02/2026 13:29

I wasn't asking you to read the article. You can see the protestors answer for themselves, in their own voices, just how much they're interested in women's sports. Or perhaps you don't want to hear what your allies have to say.

We can care about fairness for other women without needing to be a fan. It's part of the bigger issuevof women being pushed out to make way for men who, by the way, have unlimited opportunities to play sports. Women not so much.

My friend's daughter is a talented soccer player in her 20s. She is semi professional. For her to find a women's team at her level is beyond difficult. She has to travel over a hundred miles from home to get to a club as there are so few.

I couldn't care less about women's football but I care about women like my friend's daughter.

Beowulfa · 17/02/2026 14:02

The protest was a month ago (I was there), but the issue is timely with the imminent by-election in which the Palestine & Pronouns Party (Greens) are courting the Muslim vote.

My council-run pool has "women only" swimming sessions, and is very near a large mosque. Muslim voters have a right to know what "women only" actually means.

ILikeDungs · 17/02/2026 14:02

Confronting a member of the public (who doesn't set policy) is not the way to go about it. It achieves nothing.

“As I approached, I said calmly, ‘I’m sure you’re probably a perfectly decent person, but this is a female changing room, and males can’t be in here.’

“He turned on me immediately, saying, ‘I’m a woman on my birth certificate and passport!’. But he was unmistakably male.”

Before Newsom could respond, she says, “he started filming me...
Newsom says the row in the changing room escalated when she was accused of threatening violence.

“Seconds after I’d started talking to him, suddenly, out of nowhere, he said, ‘I’m scared! You raised a fist at me! I’m calling the police, I’m getting the manager.’
“My hand was closed as I was holding my earbuds, but I was in no way ‘making a fist’ or threatening to punch him. I’m a 5ft 5in woman, and he was so much taller than me. It was a ridiculous thing to say.

So she did not confront, she calmly approached. She then became agitated at the man's confrontational response and I'm not surprised.

https://mickhartley.co.uk/2025/12/23/behaviour-that-was-not-appropriate/

Behaviour that was “not appropriate”.

Meanwhile, in Southwark: It was as Miranda Newsom entered the female changing room of her local council-run leisure centre in Southwark, south London, that she first noticed someone who was clearly…

https://mickhartley.co.uk/2025/12/23/behaviour-that-was-not-appropriate/

ILikeDungs · 17/02/2026 14:15

Sadly LVhandbagsatdawn women did campaign, canvas, petition, speak to local MPs etc. Years and years of it.

They finally got the FWS SC ruling on April 16 2025.

Much good that has done.

Underthinker · 17/02/2026 14:18

Verytall · 17/02/2026 12:49

Perhaps calling people fuckwits, shouting at people in changing rooms and declaring 'anyone with a penis is a threat' isn't the best strategy for that then.

Womens sports is a new one. I remember watching someone interview TERF protesters at a sporting event. They were asked about women's sports they watched, female athletes they admired, sports they were concerned were affected, how often trans people in sports were affecting women. It was a long video. Not one could give an answer. That's how much they cared about women's sports.

I've seen that video. But they probably asked lots of people and only edited together the few who couldn't name many sportswomen.

Catiette · 17/02/2026 14:25

Verytall · 17/02/2026 13:52

Maybe you'd like living under the Taliban, they don't like trans people either.

You see, this is one of the main reasons, in my view, that your side is losing ground. What first convinced me that there was something problematic about this ideology (note: not trans-identifying people as a group, but the collective conviction that self-declared gender automatically overrules sex and the silencing of debate on this) was the almost complete inability of your "side" to argue its case convincingly and respectfully. By this, I don't mean forgoing the odd sharp riposte - goodness knows, we "TERFs" love that 😁 - but, instead, how rapidly posters on your side tend to sink into overt insult and empty rhetoric that, in any other context, and directed at any other demographic, would be total anathema.

Your post above above is a case in point. Unpleasantly personal and deeply disrespectful towards women. And all the while - at risk of stating the painfully obvious - you don't know me!

For example, I'm happy to share, in the face of your good ol' leap to an assumption of "dislike" (I mean, what am I, 10?!) the following. I don't feel I should have to, but do so to make the point that our respective approaches to this debate appear to be immeasurably different, and yours has the potential to drive more of people to my way of thinking - that's what happened with me.

So.

On a personal level, I know a number of trans people, and care about them. In more general terms, I have particular interest in and sympathy for trans-identifying children and, particularly, females, to the point of reading books, research and reports about the phenomenon, and discussing it with medics I know. I'm also interested in and have some cautious respect for (happy to elaborate on the "cautious", should you wish to engage more meaningfully) for a number of trans women commentators - I've read a fair amount by Debbie Hayton and watched Natalie's ContraPoints videos, for example. I also skim transreddit sometimes to hear what the "other side" is saying. I don't engage there, though, as the posting style is so different to the usual standards here - more personal attacks and unfounded assumptions of prejudice, much like your reply to me above.

But everyone has their own interests and priorities and, above all this, I care about women's sex-based-rights. Everything I've read - and that's a lot by now! - has consolidated my concerns about the impact this ideology is having on these. I make no apologies for this focus, or for stating it directly and forcefully in a context like this.

More than any of the above, though, please note that, even my more strongly worded posts offer up (I like to think, often quite good!) arguments that you could respond to instead of the quote I paste above. Lengthier, more thoughtful responses - I was involved in a really interesting debate with (gah - forgotten the poster's name) on your side recently - are those that tend to really interest and engage me. Because this is a complex issue and I believe in open debate about it.

Anyway, in short, the approach I take, which so, so many do on the FWR board especially (which is what drew me to it) is so utterly different to the one your post above epitomises, that replies like yours above just tend to confirm our concerns about the movement your post is (I assume) trying to support. There seems to be a fundamental lack of reason, insight and meaningful empathy (as opposed to selective and surface "kindness") characterising it. I find this disturbing, and it leaves me worried for women and also for its more vulnerable members.

ILikeDungs · 17/02/2026 14:38

Catiette: There seems to be a fundamental lack of reason, insight and meaningful empathy (as opposed to selective and surface "kindness") characterising it.

I don't remember where I picked up this quote:
"Sometimes empathy is a characteristic that can blur rational thinking".