Girls Spot Gym under attack for being women only

[fromorbit]

A black woman Natalee Bennett who is setting up a woman only gym in SE London is being targeted because she has said the gym will not include men which legally she can do under the equality act. She had said 4 years ago "trans" males would be allowed to enter, but she has now changed her mind.

The Girls Spot operates as a female-only gym for biological women, tackling harassment, sexual assault & violence that women face inside the gym.

The tweet circling was made 4 years ago and I was in the very early stages of creating a concept.
https://x.com/nataleebfitness/status/1898805670339899593

She is now facing a massive swarm of misogynist and racist abuse against her including multiple death threats. The post about the gym being for women only now has 51 million views.

See some examples of the abuse:
x.com/babybeginner/status/1899060758664896691

I suspect the abuse will peak a lot of people and prove the need for the gym to exist. Interestingly I suspect a lot of it derives from the US.

If you are in South East London you can register your interest in the gym here
https://thegirlspotgym.com/

Article about the gym from a few weeks ago before the controversy broke:
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-14355163/women-female-gyms-fitness-influencers-gymtimidation-rise.html

The US site Newsweek has picked up on the drama:

https://www.newsweek.com/gym-trans-women-ban-girls-spot-2042133

Of course it ignores the entirely different legal background in the UK.

Wouldn't it be fabulous if the TRAs tantrums actions had succeeded in bringing this matter to the author's attention, and that author then decided to support Natalee with (for example) a sizeable donation?

Then at least TRAs would have accomplished something really worthwhile.

No need. Just ask any woman over 40 waiting at the nearest bus/tram stop.
They'll see within 5 seconds who is male.

This has really angered me today. Up popped an article from Metro, surprisingly enough. She should think again, they said. Fuck off, I said and mind your business not someone else's. Then Cosmopolitan waded in with another article 'suggesting' trans identifying men are much much safer than men. Are they heck. Do none of them ever bother looking at crime statistics? Can they not really see how many trans identifying men are convicted of sex crimes, at a percentage way higher than even male convicts.
Why cannot they just leave the poor girl alone. Back off and if you want a trans gym, fucking make one. Go to Stonewall and Pink News and ask for some of your money back to fund one.

Let’s also remember this woman is only 25 years of age and 5 months post-partum yet people think it’s acceptable to abuse her like this.

Btw it’s in south west London. Wandsworth

Mass peaking continues.

JKR is on target as always.

J.K. Rowling
‘Let us in your gym or we’ll kill you’ say men who pose no risk to women whatsoever.

Michael Deacon telegraph lays it out.
Trans fanatics are not just daft, they’re dangerous
A row over the existence of one small female-only gym reveals the truth – transgender activists want to take rights from biological women

https://archive.is/AtWiY

Loads of men only gyms, mens sheds around here. Honestly it is ridiculous the way TRAs behave. Why should many women have to be made uncomfortable to suit a man. There are lots of unisex gyms so it’s not like they are being stopped from exercising. Just stopped from hanging out in a female space.

Also as I have said earlier there are fitness classes just for trans people running across the UK for years because they feel they need a space separate from other people. No one is trying to close them down, sending death threats or saying they are "cisphobic". See here:
https://notaphase.org/projects/misfits/

That's a good article, thanks for posting it. A couple of quotes.

"Of course, rather than bellowing at Ms Barnett for opening a female-only gym, the fanatics could have responded by simply opening a trans-only gym. I wonder how many biological women would have angrily protested against that.
If I had to guess a number, I think I’d probably go for zero. But then, I doubt I’ll ever find out whether I’m right, because the fanatics won’t open one. I suspect they’re much happier just screaming at innocent women, instead."

"The people asking this question, it would appear, are labouring under the impression that it’s impossible to tell whether a person is male or female unless that person happens to be naked. All I can say is: their love lives must be fraught with confusion.
Because, every time they set off on a first date with someone, they presumably have no idea whether that person is male or female. All through dinner, they must sit there, frantically asking themselves: “Is my delightfully charming and attractive companion a man or a woman? I suppose I’ll just have to sleep with him or her to find out. Until he or she takes his or her clothes off, I simply have no way of knowing!”"

https://x.com/nataleebfitness/status/1900192602571288616

Turns out it was only £1,190 of donation money from the general public, with 89 donations averaging around £13 each, and Natalee is offering refunds to any donator who wants it.

So if, out of the hundreds of creepy males and male worshippers replying to her with abusive messages, there were actually any who regretted throwing a tenner in, they can get their paltry few quid back now and - hopefully - sit down, shut up and let her run her women-centred gym in peace.

Well done, Natalee. Sensible. Now they have no excuse to abuse her.

I love that she stood firm and didn't change her stance under all the harassment. What a queen, a woman of principle who won't be cowed by bleating men.

I do really feel sorry for her there.

The fundraiser is still up on GoFundMe, donations have started coming in again in the last couple of days with supportive comments, so those donors certainly won't be looking for reimbursement!

I'm getting the urge to do a spot of light gardening

Just planted some seeds
I hope new donors make good any money she has to reimburse, so she can keep building her business successfully with a clean slate/no regrets/no millstones around her neck.

The male ego cannot take being denied. The rage they have at a woman saying no. You would’ve thought they’d understand no means no by now.

it seems that western feminism is purely there to uphold and affirm the male. What was once a beacon of liberation for women has now joined forces with men (in dresses) to become a biological womans biggest oppresser.

the audacity to rage and threaten her because women want a safe space for themselves is lunacy. Interesting you never hear trans men and bio men having this issue?

Where does it all end? If gender is a social construct (it’s not) surely age and race are social constructs? What’s to stop a biological man identifying as a 5yo and wanting to join reception? Wanting to have relations with children the age they identify with?

im sick of being quiet, being called a terf and a transphobe. Those words no longer offend me. If I’m a transphobe, so be it x

Cosmo used to be hard hitting (relatively) supporting women. I haven't read any magazine in a long time and wont be if that continues!

Cosmopolitan can get in the bin. Thankfully, they got ratioed to hell.