Woman banned from Council gyms...guess why? Protest 10th Jan at 1 pm see post on pg.7

[lcakethereforeIam]

Those who guessed 'because she objected to a man in the women's changing room', give yourselves a pat on the back

https://archive.ph/wLUBN

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2025/12/23/council-gym-trans-row/

I went to Southwark today. I've never been to a protest before so I was expecting excitement. What I got was the opposite of exciting: a bunch of sensible middle aged woman talking common sense about rights and the law of the land. It felt slightly ridiculous to have to stand in the cold and hear it reiterated that mammals can't change sex, and that it's not legal for men to be in women's changing rooms. FFS wake up Southwark Council; there's enough shit to sort out in London without women having to remind you of common sense, basic decency and THE ACTUAL FUCKING LAW.

Many thanks to Miranda and the behind-the-scenes organisers. All the speakers were calm, articulate and factual. The shouty mob on the other side had a couple of the blue and pink flags to gyrate around and some not very catchy placards. Oh, and lots of drumming. The kind of skill-less moronic repetitive drumming that was actually quite easy to tune out. I heard every word thanks.They resorted to just waving middle fingers at one point.

We had a great Terf Island union flag, plus a union flag in suffragette colours. My favourite placards:

-NO TESTICLES IN MY CUBICLES
-NEVER MIND THE BOLLOCKS; HERE'S THE SEX REALISTS
-THIS IS NOT A DRESS CODE (below universal sign for ladies toilet)
-WANK SOMEWHERE ELSE, PERVERTS

The climax was a large and very high quality banner declaiming TRANSWOMEN ARE MEN- SUPREME COURT APRIL 2026, posed with the gender loons in the background.

I'm very glad I went, and will support similar protests in future.

Thanks @Beowulfa ! Wish I could have been there. Those placards are wonderful!

Pickled- your posts make me sad too
Why can't you understand the information that has been offered to you on this thread?
What is it that makes you centre the feelings of men against the rights of women?
Should small men use the women's loos if they feel unsafe? Effeminate men? Small and effeminate men?
So what difference is there between these groups of men for example and the man who says he's a woman?
Safety in the men's loo is for men to sort, not us.
A suggestion- please read a bit more; you might get it eventually. Read about the statistics on TW and crimes. Read about the death threats, the online venom and hate directed at women just for speaking out. The chants and noise when women gather to speak.
Maybe look at the threads on Bash Back??

And yes, you are judgemental, preachy and dismissive. You might as well have said
" move over women, shut your mouths and be kind"
No and no again

”She didn’t say no”

Where have we heard that before?

Thanks again Miranda, and all the women who protested yesterday. I am sure any person attending the open day will have noticed the stark difference between the TRAs noisy and intimidating at the entrance of the gym and the women speaking.

It pretty much encapsulates the issue nicely.

Southwark Council in trouble.

Sex Matters

We were in Southwark today protesting against the council’s unlawful policy and the suspension of Miranda Newsom from her gym for complaining about a man in a women’s changing room.

Miranda Newsom is an ordinary woman. Like most women, she wants to be able to change with dignity and privacy. She does not expect to have to share this space with a man. This is not a difficult thing to ask for.

The trade union Unison is holding a counter-protest outside the leisure centre. Women who have turned up to support Miranda — and to defend their own sex-based rights — are facing further intimidation.

If Southwark wants to be the test case to try to overturn the Supreme Court judgment, we will see them in court.

I was there too. The police, when asked if they could get the TRAs to turn their noise down, repeatedly made excuses.

If it sounded loud to us several feet away, it must have been horrendous for the people inside the centre.

I complained to Southwark and got this response. Looks like they are digging in:

‘Southwark Council has already undertaken a full investigation into the incident referenced, in line with its established procedures. The Council does not accept the assertions made in your letter and does not consider that it has acted unlawfully.
^^
The Council does not comment on individual cases, particularly where matters have been misrepresented publicly. Any actions taken were based on evidence, were proportionate, and were consistent with Council policies and legal duties.
^^
The Council keeps all relevant policies under regular review to ensure they remain lawful and appropriate.
^^
We consider this matter closed.’

Ooh, bring it on, Sex Matters! I’ll donate.

I'm sure they'd love the matter to be closed - but it's not theirs to close.

If the OP wants to take this further, I'll happily donate too.

I got exactly the same response from Southwark Council so clearly a standard letter. I wonder how many they had to send out.

Of course Southwark Council “does not consider that it has acted unlawfully”, when they’re marking their own homework.

I sent a complaint to Southwark Council and have had the same response word for word. Disgraceful and illustrates they are not taking the issue seriously.

Sadly I disagree. I think they are taking the issue seriously. They don't, however, take women seriously.

What I don’t get is why they think they can reasonably claim to have acted legally. I can only assume that they are trying to bluff through this in the hope that it will go away.

I expect it'll be along the lines of "something something until EHRC issues guidance"

Given the Supreme Court was quite clear that their ruling was on what the law always had been, it'll be interesting to see how that plays out.

'They' (Southwark Council) are made up of real people. Who are these individuals who have ALL agreed that the matter is closed and that they've not acted against the law?!

I'm staggered that there are a group of people prepared to say they've not acted against the law while the SC ruling is right there, in front of them?! 😳

Why must Sex Matters now take this on as yet another court case when it's all in black and white already; it's so wasteful of time, money and women's health. Fucking outrages me; I'm so sick of it.

I've been involved with challenging councils in other areas of law. It's really not that unusual for local authorities to ignore bits of the law that they consider expensive or difficult to implement.

they work on the basis that most people give up at some point and the chances of it getting all the way to court are slim

i would say with these cases - big mistake!huge! As we've seen women are more than willing to go to court

Exactly. You only need to look at the way they approach SEND law to know that councils often don't really care about following the law if it's expensive or they think people won't follow through.

Agreed and of course should they go to court it’s also a shocking use of the council’s very limited money and people resource. If I were a Southwark resident I’d be very unhappy and would be looking to vote the current administration out.

Perhaps there needs to be some big ‘People of Southwark, your council wants to spend your council tax keeping men in women’s changing rooms’ poster campaign.
i would not be impressed with their priorities.

Or leaflet all the houses in the area around the gym.

As far as I remember when councils have been seriously challenged they’ve mostly settled or backed down before it got to court. Westminster Council for the social work case being one exception.

I’ve just sent a complaint to Southwark Council, quoting their standard ‘case closed’ letter as posted on this thread.

I concentrated on the legal side of things. Also their beauty parade whereby staff let the men who most ‘look like a woman’ enter the female single sex space.

I preempted some of their arguments, such as how do we know who are the men or the women. Apart from pointing out our split second assessment evolutionary skill, the 600 physiological differences between the 2 sexes & the fact it was never a problem before, I pointed out the obvious one in this case. The beauty parade. If they’re assessing whether the men ‘pass’ then they definitely know one thing - they’re a bloke.

I also included some of the great points made on this thread, such as how successful Sex Matters are and what a waste of taxpayers money it would be to fight the SC ruling.

I’ve asked them to explain why in the light of the SC ruling they are knowingly allowing males into female only spaces. I also pointed out the staggering irony that Miranda is banned and yet the men who pass their test are currently in their female changing rooms.

I also clarified the position on waiting for further guidance as set out by the SC, as I suspect this might be their excuse.

I’m intrigued to see their response.