No gym for me

[Orchidoptic]

Phoned up Dudley gyms as had sudden urge to get fit without a long contract.
“Yes, yes, the changing areas are sex separated”
“can men who say they are women use the female changing areas”
“its discriminatory not to allow this” “even if the Equality Act says it is acceptable to separate in changing areas”
“its discriminatory not to allow them in”
“even though they probably still have penises”
“its discriminatory not to allow this”
“what about discriminating against women and girls?”
“...”

In case you think I’m a plopper, as you call them, I drop in and out under various names for safety. Generally I rejoin when I have something to say, but wouldn’t touch Twitter with a barge pole.

They should quit with the false advertising then and start telling women that the facilities are actually unisex before they sign up.

I believe the woman from the US Planet Fitness case won her suit on this point and the company now have to make it clear that women are not getting sex segregated spaces.

These responses are so infuriating. "What about discrimination to women and girls?" The thing is, no-one cares. We need to protest with our purses, and let it be known everywhere. Do they have a Facebook page? Make it known there.
If we do nothing it will only get worse (before it gets better. It HAS to.)

They've all been groomed by Stonewall to believe a lie about the Equality Act.

Do what I'm doing - pursue them in writing about what safeguarding risk assessments they've done (ask for dates when they were done and copies - they will not have done them, I guarantee it) and equality impact assessments.

Ask what they're doing to safeguard women and girls. Ask what their equality impact assessments told them about the impact of this on other protected characteristics (e.g. sex, belief, race - women who for various reasons cannot use facilities with those of the male sex).

Ask if their insurers know they've done this without risk, etc assessments.

Ask why women members/users are not being informed about this policy so that they can keep themselves safe.

We need to pursue these organisations in writing.

The private gym I visit is a chain that will allow fully intact xy trans women in the female changing.

At the moment they have a sign in the women's changing saying a school will be using the pool one day a week for lessons for six weeks.

I'm pretty confident that the gym will not have explained to the school that a fully intact male can walk in and change next to primary aged girls (no cubicles) and that's the gyms inclusive policy. Its madness!

JamB4cream

Ask them if they've informed the school of this, so that the school can review its risk assessment (as a former head, I wouldn't allow my girls into such a changing room).

Ask if they've risk assessed for those girls.

Part of my battle with the council I gyms I pay to use is that one of the gyms does not have any cubicles in its women's changing room. I've asked for their risk assessment on that, how they intend to safeguard the many women and girls who (for a range of reasons, which I've listed) cannot be in such a room with a man.

Put it all in writing and require a written reply. The only way we can challenge this is if people actually challenge it.

“Yes, yes, the changing areas are sex separated”

Can you get them to say that in writing? Because its false advertising.
and they are wrong. Even with a GRC, changing rooms can be single sex as people are getting undressed in them.

So you are prepared to go without a gym membership just in case you had to be in the same room as a trans person?

If you are that precious, just go in a cubicle. Although I'm quite sure no one is in the least bit interested in your body anyway

Trauma ... blah blah... safety. Precious- no. A cubicle won’t take away what I am reminded of each time I take my clothes off. As I stated in my OP, going to the gym was just a thought. Part of my dream of starting to heal.

As PP suggested, though, I will be sending letters.

It's about the principle. We cannot allow this attitude to spread. Basically they only do it because they are more afraid of a bullying transwoman than if a protesting woman. They need to be just as scared as us.

I can thoroughly recommend saving your money and doing workouts at home using

www.youtube.com/user/FitnessBlender

I got my husband and I a powerblock set but you can use other things or no weights at all. If you like working out with other women, invite some over or workout in the park using one of the many freely available workout plans online.

If women just stopped going to gyms over this, organising alternatives amongst themselves, I really wonder how long these gyms would last without our money.

Veronica why should the OP be the one to use a cubicle - if there are any? Why can’t people with penises use the changing room with all the other people with penises? Why should women (the cunty type) be the ones to budge up?

Small pools usually close to the public if a school is in for safeguarding reasons. In the circumstances that would avoid any situation JamB4cream highlighted, even if it was kept single sex tbh.

Following Chartered Institute for the Management of Sport and Physical Activity (CIMSPA) guidance GLL allow women and accompanying children under the age of eight, irrespective of the gender of the children, into women's changing rooms. Women only sessions are for females that have reached the required minimum age to access the session.

Regards,

Muir Forrest

National Safeguarding Manager

GLL (Greenwich Leisure Limited) is a charitable social enterprise

If you are that precious, just go in a cubicle. Although I'm quite sure no one is in the least bit interested in your body anyway

1. Some gyms have no cubicles - mine doesn't, for example.

1. That 'I'm quite sure no one is interested in your body' crack is fucking insulting, disingenuous and totally lacking in any insight into why a lot of women cannot be in such spaces with men.

If you're a woman - show some empathy. If you're a man - fuck off.

I got this response this morning after I asked who exactly is allowed in to the women's changing rooms and women only sessions.

Small pools usually close to the public if a school is in for safeguarding reasons. In the circumstances that would avoid any situation JamB4cream highlighted, even if it was kept single sex tbh.

Mine doesn't - children are in at the same time as adult members because there are two pools.

finnmcool

You need to drill down - ask what their policy on transwomen accessing women's changing rooms.

If they are separated by sex then why are they allowing men into the women's changing room?

*VeronicaDinner
You are breaking talk guidelines with your misogynistic personal attack. Bore off.

Vicky, I have emailed back for further clarification.
Will post the response I get.

So you are prepared to go without a gym membership just in case you had to be in the same room as a trans person?

A better idea: why don’t those who refuse to go to a gym unless they are given the opportunity to show their penises to girls start their own gyms?

Or, if they really like showing their penises to girls, why don’t they get a girlfriend who likes that kind of thing?

VeronicaDinner

"If you are that precious, just go in a cubicle."

Your lack of empathy is very revealing.
As a fitness instructor, most of the council run gyms I go to are open plan, with no cubicles and are designated "Female" and "Male", so to have an obviously male bodied person wandering around in the Female area, would I imagine at the very least cause concern, and possibly even traumatise someone.

If you are that precious, just go in a cubicle. Although I'm quite sure no one is in the least bit interested in your body anyway

If trans people are that precious, let them fight for their own spaces that are not already taken. And men are not interested in women's bodies are they not? So we can all walk around freely anywhere we like at any time without being harassed and blamed because we're wearing the clothes they dictate we should wear? Talk sense.