Entitled male refused access to female changing area (despite wearing skirt)

[ACatCalledPushka]

Well done to the hotel staff. ‘trans ‘woman’ given key to the unisex changing room instead of the female changing room ‘trans woman’ not happy.

https://twitter.com/anneicoombes/status/1683090524641566721?s=46&t=5tHsrgY5T97exTqeFD4LWg

Fair point.

The allies in key positions of responsibility won't get that luxury though if they are asked the questions directly on camera. Many will avoid interviews but presumably some can't if they want to do their day jobs e.g. Keir Starmer.

Just popping this link down to my post over on the other thread:

https://www.mumsnet.com/talk/womens_rights/4859990-pool-rules-changed-after-outcry-over-trans-official-in-change-room?reply=128023397

I expect The Monitors will report it.

’Under Zir’s Eye’

Your collage definitely brings the message home in a way that the Lia Thomas issue can't. Even though Lia is simply a younger version of Anne.

Right, time for me to step away from the internet for the day. I think I'm bordering on being a bit too invested in this story!

I’ve been reading this as an ex swim mum who spent hundreds of hours at competitions at Ponds Forge, including over a hundred poolside as a team manager. I’ve been racking my brain to picture the changing rooms, blaming the menopause because I can’t. Then it hit me, I have never ever been in the changing rooms. Despite being the female the girls went to if they needed anything.

There should be a question as to why any officials were in the changing rooms let alone Anne.

The parents who have complained about this need to be commended. Unless things have improved dramatically in the 10 yrs since my Dds stopped swimming the elite clubs did not take criticism well, there was always a “if you don’t like it your child will be asked to leave” policy, at least in the club we were at. Whilst this situation isn’t a criticism of a club, the unhealthy dynamic made any interaction difficult.

Sadly. a similar dynamic exists elsewhere in children’s sport (and other elite, highly competitive activities such as ballet and orchestra).

You’d hope that we as a society would be able to learn from such awful crimes as the American Gymnasts and Scottish Footballers were subjected to at the hands of their coaches, but alas, we seem to be doomed to repetition.

How about awful crimes in actual swimming. Have they all forgotten about this, or do they think because a lot of it happened in Ireland it doesn't count?

Only 30 years ago, at least some of them lived through it.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/mediacentre/latestnews/2020/where-is-george-gibney

So from what's been said Anne only started volunteering at swimming events when Anne started wearing a wig and a skirt. When Anne was Paul they didn't. Mmmmmm.

As others have stated it's very unusual for an adult to volunteer like this when their children aren't involved. As a parent or volunteer you don't go anywhere near changing rooms.

Swimming parents need to put pressure on British Swimming over this and Masters women need to push back against Anne competing in women's events.

I intend to carry on officiating after mine have left home to help out club out. I officiate at meets when mine aren't necessarily swimming too.

My experience was of a mix of swim parents and older officials who had started out as swim parents or swimmers and then carried on officiating. The sport relies on the older ones, they have the time that current swim parents lack away from the competitions their DC are in.

Exactly parents who have previously been involved, perfectly normal. But does Anne fit this profile? Did Anne's children swim and was Anne involved? If not then massive red flag.

Any man deciding to start volunteering in children's/youths sport is a massive red flag.

I would be very interested to know too @DreamItDoIt

Anne claims to have been involved in Reading Swimming Club for 30 years which I suppose would coincide with the parenting years (Anne has two adult children, a son and a daughter) but whether those 30 years have been consistent and if volunteering at events for minors has been part of it I can’t tell from a quick Google.

There is a Lorraine Coombes who is a couple of years younger than Anne who has had some genuine swimming success and has since worked as a coach for several clubs including Reading and Ealing.

Whether she is Anne’s younger sister or wife I can’t be sure. Seems unlikely to be two completely unrelated, same age people called Coombes associated with Reading Swimming Club.

and we know that many late transitioning males take on aspects of their ex wives & sisters appearances and interests.

https://www.worldaquatics.com/athletes/1064461/lorraine-coombes

From Coombes' old blog (talking about their failure to secure tickets for the Olympics):

We particular wanted to go to see some of the swimming as I and my wife have a lifetime of involvement with swimming at various levels and our daughter is a competitive club swimmer.

Coombes is currently Masters Secretary at Reading Swimming Club

So Anne has been involved. Fine, but Anne should know better then. Anne would be well aware of rules around changing rooms etc.

Would Anne have accepted a man walking through the changing room whilst his daughter was changing? A man using the same toilet?

Either way Anne should stay away and concentrate in their own swimming, using the correct changing room for their sex. British Swimming should improve their safeguarding.

I'm very sure that Coombes would have been outraged if a middle aged man had been using the female changing rooms as a cut through when Rachel, Coombes' daughter, was competing as a teenager.

As everyone's pointed out - this is a massive safeguarding breach. What matters now is that everyone involved (and hopefully some of the aware journalists) start challenging the swimming clubs and Swim England about what has happened to their safeguarding children policies. This transwoman openly believes and states that they were entitled to access spaces where teenage girls were naked. Evidently nobody in any of their organisations (except for the brave Myra) has ever told them no and this is the consequence.

What's the difference between a random man repeatedly going into the women's changing room in order to perve on the naked girls and AC? Presumably the police would be called to deal with the former? So why not AC? It's time to force authorities /the police into either implementing safeguarding or to call out their support for predatory behaviour.

No adult should be using a room where teenagers are changing as a walk through

Regardless of whether they are gay or straight, male or female it is just basic common sense that you don't put yourself in a position where you can be accused of acting indecently. What on earth was going through their head that they thought this was OK.

Had Anne just been an official in a skirt at the competition they would have been OK

Loitering in the girls changing rooms where teenage girls are naked has made them a massive target. Stupid, stupid, stupid

I'm very sure that Coombes would have been outraged if a middle aged man had been using the female changing rooms as a cut through when Coombes' daughter was competing as a teenager.

I wouldn’t assume that that’s something to be “very sure” of. None of us can take it for granted that all of our female friends had male relatives who respected their privacy and dignity.

I keep reading AC as Amiee Challenor...

So Anne decided to test put the Staniland question in real life.
Turns out, most people don’t think male bodied people belong in changing rooms with girls.

The Staniland question:
Do you believe that male-sexed people have the right to undress and shower in a communal changing room with teenage girls?

Yes, you're right. Profoundly depressing

*BonfireLady · Today 10:50

Anne is going to be thrown to the wolves as a "lone bad apple" by the trans community.

Have they got any good apples in their bushel of bad ones? It's only when the light of publicity is shone on them and that they can't deny that, for example, Pink Leggings is execrable scum, that they throw them under the bus and pretend that the rest are cuddly, fluffy kittens.

Now that the volunteer guidelines have been tightened, any volunteer in a skirt (or otherwise) cannot use the female changerooms as a walkthrough.

But can that volunteer use the female toilets (including any accessed from within the changerooms)?

Also, what happens if that volunteer takes on a paid/official role - will they still have to abide by guidelines/rules that stop males (TW) from accessing female spaces?

DiabolicalFinial · Today 03:51

But can that volunteer use the female toilets (including any accessed from within the changerooms)?

The organisation can quite legally exclude him, as it's covered by the single sex exemption clause of the 2010 Equality Act. It's a proportional aim, in that it is to protect the dignity - at the very least - of the teenaged girls.

Whether the swimming club is aware of that fact and whether they will insist is key.