Transwoman on women's ward

[Sallycinnamum]

Had a minor gynae procedure today but nevertheless was very anxious leading up to it.

Was wheeled back to the day ward to be greeted quite literally (started waving at me) by a transwoman in the bed opposite me.

There was no doubt he was a man and being completely immobile due to a spinal anaesthetic with no underwear on I asked the nurse to completely close the curtains so he couldn't look directly at me.

Spoke to a nurse who confirmed it wasn't a mixed ward.

I am so upset. I felt so vulnerable especially as I couldn't walk so had to pee into a bedpan in clear earshot of him.

I've emailed PALS but I feel so bloody fed up of it all. Had a man next to me in the M&S lingerie changing rooms a few weeks ago and was made to feel like a total bigot when I complained to the staff.

Men should never be on women’s wards, or on wards for women’s issues of any kind.

its not possible to change sex.

For the patients sake, medical staff need to know their sex before they treat them. Also, do you really think medical staff can't identify someone's sex in the vast majority of cases.

My worry is that people are misconstruing genuine concerns and the encroachments of the rights biological females as bigotry and “transphobic.” That’s not fair, and it’s nothing short of gaslighting women.

Trans-people have indeed been around for centuries. A large majority of them are fine, and trying their best to live as they wish, without much detriment to women, or other groups of the population. I guess the issue is that many people see it as an ideology - and that it is being forced upon those who may not necessarily agree with it. We are at a time in the modern world where this ideology is both hastily bulldozing and subtly seizing the current way of living for many. It is not without its risks. And it certainly seems and feels as though trans rights have overtaken women’s rights. It’s an important issue.

In an M&S changing room maybe. In a hospital? The nurses gave seen more genitalia than most.

Most people will be content to go into a ward of their biological sex. One has to question the motives of a man pretending to be a woman , to get into a women’s ward.

You mean like TRAs insisting JK Rowling is a man? That kind of trans estimating?

We know they can ID someone’s sex, there are many giveaways as we all know.

What I’m asking though, is that if someone tells the staff they are female during a triage in A&E (for example), what can the staff actually do to prove otherwise?

Even if that person is sitting there and it’s blindingly obvious they are not female, how is that dealt with in practice when they simply say that they are.

I would imagine any hospital staff would be treading very carefully, worried about being accused of a hate crime for questioning someone. That can’t be easy.

And it certainly seems and feels as though trans rights have overtaken women’s rights. It’s an important issue.

Not saying I disagree or mean to be aggressive, but what do you mean by this? What women rights have trans rights eroded? Outside of single-sex spaces (sports, bathrooms, scholarships...)

If a transwoman is on a women's ward, it's no longer a women's ward. Simple.

If I’m in hospital after a gynaecological or an other procedure, I don’t give a rat’s arse how nice a man is, I simply don’t want a strange one in the room where I’m sleeping and undressed. It’s not about “fear”, it’s about privacy, dignity and consent.

What a childish, inane comment, completely lacking in any kind of maturity, empathy or knowledge of real life. Nothing else to do now exams have finished?

The must be markers on personal details that need to be input into the hospital system. Which is why I think sex at birth must always be recorded on official documentation (including any certificate that says that gender has been changed)

I mean, it’s always obvious (unless surgery has been involved) but I can understand why people may not want to challenge.

God what a load of old bollocks. And I say this as a humanities prof with a very high threshold for pretentious bollocks indeed. 🙄

I think the staff on the ward confirmed that this was a man.

And yes, you can always tell. And a “cisgender woman” is a woman btw. Saves typing that made up word.

I have been on medical wards that were mixed sex recently - it did not bother me.

But a gynae ward is different.

Some history of “single-sex” wards in NHS trusts:

https://medium.com/@anneharperwright/sex-gender-the-nhs-1e8f4e6363a6

https://medium.com/@anneharperwright/sex-gender-the-nhs-bb86b0c3ebb

That makes sense. I was kept overnight after a day op, because I live on my own.

I was getting a shoulder decompression, but there were folk in there for various procedures. A chap in the same ward but a separate section/bay - divided by a wall, not just curtains - was in getting his haemorrhoids removed. (Voices carried and the poor chap was constantly in the corridor, asking when he could go home. He had to wait until he'd passed water.)

That makes sense. And that sex from birth should follow you to the grave, IMO. No changes, deletions or edits.

I’m glad it’s not just me that wondered why a man would be on a gynaecology ward 😆

Seriously though, that is shit. Id kick up a stink too.

Ffs. Wonder what procedure HE had that felt it was more appropriate to put him here.

In the sense that - we have trans-women winning in female sports, winning competitions for “woman of the year,” performing medical examinations on women when they’ve asked for a female member of staff, being in women’s only prisons, hospitals, wards, changing areas, winning oscars. Women have a right to these female only spaces and categories and are now disadvantaged by biological males.

If that is stated to be a single sex ward, then as the Supreme Court helpfully clarified, that means no biological men, however they identify. I am so sorry your right to safety and dignity was trampled on like that. Well done for having the strength to raise it.

All this talk of how can you tell?, what should one do if you can tell a man is pretending to be a woman? how are we supposed to deal with this as employers/workers /service providers.

the issue of masculine lesbians, and trans men has not really come up yet here,

<gets my bingo card out>

it is up to trans identifying people to respect the law and to respect oppisite sex based rights.

Which of course they will not,

which then, and only then, puts workers/employers/service providers in a difficult situation.

so that is why the EHRC guidance is sorely needed.