Times article on YHA 8.10.18

[FlowersAndHerts]

Apologies if there's already a thread on this, but I couldn't see it. Anyway, there's a new article in The Times today, by Lucy Bannerman and Rosemary Bennett, entitled "Youth Hostels Association allow trans guests to use female dormitories"

To quote the article:
The YHA said that the policy had been “in use since 2016 without any concerns or complaints”. One member in her 60s, said that when she complained she was told that there had been no “significant incidents”.

I commented, but as usual on these articles, all comments still seem to be pending. That stifles debate in itself. Why can't The Times get the comments out sooner???

I just looked at YHA curious at what age a young person is permitted to stay by themselves in a group dorm and read this:

2.7 To ensure that YHA provide safe and suitable accommodation for everyone, children under the age of 16 must be accompanied by a person who is 18 or older. Children between 11 and 16 can stay in public dorms if accompanied by an adult, who they checked in with. Children under 11 are not permitted to stay in public dormitory accommodation and should be booked into a private room. Children who are 16 or over may stay in any accommodation within the YHA. Groups of guests of mixed genders, who wish to stay in the same room, must book private accommodation

Ah, the irony of writing safe and suitable accommodation when we're talking about a 16 year old female potentially being accommodated alongside a male-bodied person who says they are trans.

If ever there was an example of 'validating one's identity' being put above the rights and safety of females, this is it because there is a simple alternative for the transperson. They can book a private room and everyone is ensured privacy and safety. If the YHA wish to be inclusive, charge the transperson the group room rate.

I'm really fucking pissed off now as I watch my dds' scope for public participation narrow further.

It seems weird that no-one is doing risk assessments of any form around this issue. Not just doing them and finding no problems, not even trying.

Surely someone, somewhere along the line has thought about it? I can imagine that some organisations didn't think the policies through properly but all of them seems odd.

Instead it's all just 'move along, there's nothing to see here. Don't look over there, it's not significant'.

IME hostels (youth or otherwise) are invariably divided into female rooms and mixed-sex rooms. So there should never be any reason for a self-ID-ed person to insert themselves into a female-only room.

Odd thing is that (again IME only) men sharing mixed-sex rooms are always wonderfully respectful towards women in the room. Noisy and lairy maybe, but never creepy or threatening or determined to make it ‘their’ space.

I despair ...

It seems weird that no-one is doing risk assessments of any form around this issue. Not just doing them and finding no problems, not even trying.

It's because TWAW, innit?

Sorry to read your experience Kewqueue. I had one terrifying experience years ago where I accepted a mixed-sex room because it was otherwise empty and they said no one else would be arriving. I woke up to a clearly psychotic man pacing up and down, ranting and howling.

I didn’t restrain myself in pointing out to the staff just how wrongly they had acted.

But this is outside the main point.

More fucking examples of obfuscation and conflation of sex and gender. When sex becomes subsumed into gender identity, as someone said upthread, men's worlds stay the same, women's worlds shrink. Relying on the maintenance of single sex spaces and categories is the most important thing we have to keep safe.

Just a tiny example... I arrived in an unfamiliar town by train at 10 am. Walked over to the taxi rank as it was uphill & I had heavy bags. As I approached the front taxi, I noticed it was a lady driver and I instantly felt a lot of tension release in my shoulders, which surprised me. No other reason to feel "dodgy"... it was daylight & never had any bad experiences in that context. Just the presence of a woman was so reassuring and relaxing. Men do not appreciate how much we appreciate and need female only space on our own terms.

Gender identity is coercive control... not only does it force us into the box marked "feminine", it also means we have to surrender our very ontology and spaces. Why is biological sex not a valid self-determination criterion in the same way as gender is becoming?

I'm not putting my experience here for now because it might out me but there is no way on God's green earth that I would ever stay in a mixed sex dorm with strange men again or allow my daughter to.

This is all well and good for those of us who can afford private rooms. But I am too disgusted with YHA for playing fast and loose with women's and girls' safety. I won't be giving them any more of my money.

FGS what was wrong with the old policy of letting transwomen have private rooms at the dorm rate? It seemed like a perfectly sensible compromise.

I've been in mixed sex dorms with a man who has having a wank. Not something I'd be keen for my dds to experience.

I've also been in mixed sex dorm with a couple who had sex. This was also pretty grim.