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Feminism: Sex and gender discussions

Do you avoid the bathroom if there is a transwoman?

1000 replies

PeachyDaisy · 06/05/2026 02:05

I’m going to an industry event next week and I know there will be a transwoman attending. Should I use the disabled bathroom to avoid an awkward encounter or just continue to use the women’s and hope not to run into them?

OP posts:
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27
quantumbutterfly · 10/05/2026 15:04

Matcheroo · 10/05/2026 14:49

No political aims. As I said I’m GC.
I’m just wondering if people on here who say CAIS is male actually admit it’s more complicated than that sometimes?

Many on these boards say CAIS = male.
Many say NO males in women’s toilets or changing facilities.

I’m wondering if that means they’d expect someone with CAIS to use the gents, even though their phenotype is female?
Do you expect that, for example?

If you don’t then I take it you agree with me that the situation is more complicated and nuanced than Y is male in every situation.

CAIS is very rare. It's amazing how well informed we've all had to become about vsd to protect women's rights. I bet people are not so well informed about rare conditions that can't be weaponised against women protecting their sex based rights.
If CAIS is phenotypically female even if genotypically male then Spidey senses shouldn't tingle. I note that there is a comorbidity of osteoporosis as per xy (and xxy) bodies with low testosterone, and conversely xx bodies with low oestrogen.

Helleofabore · 10/05/2026 15:04

Matcheroo · 10/05/2026 14:55

Still no answer then.
This isn’t political. I’m not a TRA, I’m GC.
I think people with DSDs are treated unfairly on here, that’s all.

Edited

I think people with DSDs are treated unfairly on here, that’s all.

And that is what I am pointing out as your political aim.

Matcheroo · 10/05/2026 15:06

Helleofabore · 10/05/2026 15:04

I think people with DSDs are treated unfairly on here, that’s all.

And that is what I am pointing out as your political aim.

Why is that political? Genuinely don’t get what you mean, sorry.

Matcheroo · 10/05/2026 15:11

quantumbutterfly · 10/05/2026 15:04

CAIS is very rare. It's amazing how well informed we've all had to become about vsd to protect women's rights. I bet people are not so well informed about rare conditions that can't be weaponised against women protecting their sex based rights.
If CAIS is phenotypically female even if genotypically male then Spidey senses shouldn't tingle. I note that there is a comorbidity of osteoporosis as per xy (and xxy) bodies with low testosterone, and conversely xx bodies with low oestrogen.

As a biologist I knew about CAIS already. Also some other rare medical conditions that have nothing to do with the sex chromosomes.

quantumbutterfly · 10/05/2026 15:17

Matcheroo · 10/05/2026 15:11

As a biologist I knew about CAIS already. Also some other rare medical conditions that have nothing to do with the sex chromosomes.

That would depend on your field as a biologist. I have some rare diseases in my family that even medical professionals are unfamiliar with. I doubt most people would be familiar with CAIS unless impacted by it.

borntobequiet · 10/05/2026 15:18

Matcheroo · 10/05/2026 15:06

Why is that political? Genuinely don’t get what you mean, sorry.

People with DSDs have been used for ages by genderists as a wedge issue to enable trans identifying men to access women’s spaces, because it makes it “too complicated” to be fair to everyone, ignoring the fact that these are rare conditions that are nothing to do with trans.

HenriettaSwanLeavitt · 10/05/2026 15:18

Matcheroo · 10/05/2026 14:55

Still no answer then.
This isn’t political. I’m not a TRA, I’m GC.
I think people with DSDs are treated unfairly on here, that’s all.

Edited

I'm happy to answer. I don't know anymore about people with CAIS than can be gleaned from the internet, but if a person with CAIS has been socialised as female and has received no benefit whatsoever from testosterone then, in theory, I would not be unhappy with them using spaces for women. However, there are several caveats. The first is that it would not be morally right to fail to inform them that they are, in fact, biologically male. Secondly, where sports are concerned, there is a lack of information as to whether they do actually have an advantage over biological women and further research does need to be done. Thirdly, it is apparently quite hard to differentiate between PAIS and CAIS and so the 'slippery slope' to testosterone-responsive men in women's spaces remains open. Fourthly, I do not trust medical professionals or charities purporting to represent people with DSDs to consider the needs of biological women when advocating for any particular group of biological males with a DSD.

So, if women on FWR seem to be treating some people with DSDs unfairly it is because they are being used by misogynistic activists to take advantage of the kindness of strangers to overcome safeguarding. That is why what I would be content with in theory, is not necessarily the same as what I would advocate for in practice. Take it up with the TRAs, as PP have said.

borntobequiet · 10/05/2026 15:20

Which is why people on here get pretty hacked off when it’s brought up over and over again.

CornishDaughteroftheDawn · 10/05/2026 15:27

Matcheroo · 10/05/2026 13:32

The experience of this woman on MN is basically the sort of thing I object to.

she left because a very vocal set of mumsnetters who were very black and white about Y chromosome means you’re a man. Correcting people referring to individuals with dsd as she “he, he has a Y chromosome, it’s he”

Compare that to the NHS:
“Specialist healthcare teams advise that children with complete androgen insensitivity syndrome (CAIS) are raised as girls because they have female genitals, no testosterone response and almost always identify as female gender when they're older.”

They’re referred to as women and girls in the medical and scientific literature.

As a biologist I believe sex is binary of course. I am also GC.
But nature is complex and we need to resist the urge to over-simplify.

Edited

I’m not sure what your point is. One person with an extremely rare medical condition may (or may not - I’d be interested to see the thread where this all happened - maybe @Notmeagain12 could dig out the thread seeing as he or she has such a clear memory if it?) have been upset by discussion on a public forum where they revealed their unusual situation and therefore invited comment.

Because of that vanishingly rare occurrence, we are all being chastised for holding the line for fact and sanity because we have learnt by bitter experience if we give 1mm to the trans activists, they will run with it forever and we will have men in women’s toilets claiming rare conditions en masse.

It is that simple because it is a fact that DSDs are either an anomaly of male sexual development or an anomaly of female sexual development and there is no third state. Misdiagnosis and mistakes in thinking your child is one thing then finding out they are not are personal things to deal with but still not a problem for us to sort.

It is relevant who started it because we are not the ones weaponising these conditions for our own ends.

So much sympathy for one anonymous, possibly real person on the internet (we only have their word for it) but so little for the situation in which we currently find ourselves.

crosstalk · 10/05/2026 15:29

hahabahbag · 06/05/2026 07:03

i can’t get worked up about a potential tw in a toilet at an event, quite different to the issue of showers in leisure centres or female only wards in hospitals. Mountains and molehills spring to mind. The disabled toilet is unisex so I do not understand how this is better - you know this person it’s not a safety concern, do not inconvenience disabled people

Disabled toilets are usually floor to ceiling walls/doors with a washbasin inside as distinct from your usual conference/office loos with spaces underneath and above, and a shared row of basins outside the loos. Unisex in one is not comparable to unisex in the other. Noise, smells, blood, the remote but always present chance of aggression ... very different in one to the other.

Wearenotborg · 10/05/2026 15:33

Matcheroo · 10/05/2026 13:21

I take the point about trans-activists starting it.

What I object to is the assumption by many on here that all those with DSDs can be neatly ‘catergorised’ as male or female.
Some cannot.

Please stop saying it as it just isn’t true.
I say that as a scientist. Lots of what’s posted about DSDs on this board is overly simplistic or simply incorrect. People working in the area or living with the condition realise the situation is sometimes much more nuanced.

It doesn’t matter who started it tbh.

So what sex are they? If they are not male or female, what is this third sex called?

ChipsyKing · 10/05/2026 15:41

Grammarnut · 10/05/2026 14:43

You are not GC if you think it's ok for a transwoman, i.e. a man, to be in women's sex segregated spaces against the wishes of women and without their consent. This is at the heart of being gender critical.

The thread has moved on a long way since that post.

MintBird · 10/05/2026 16:22

If it's such a big deal to you you could make a point of using the bathroom at home or somewhere nearby near the event before going in, drink minimal fluids at the event then using the bathroom nearby after leaving?

Except for old age or certain medical conditions that should work for most.

murasaki · 10/05/2026 16:25

MintBird · 10/05/2026 16:22

If it's such a big deal to you you could make a point of using the bathroom at home or somewhere nearby near the event before going in, drink minimal fluids at the event then using the bathroom nearby after leaving?

Except for old age or certain medical conditions that should work for most.

Amd so could transwomen. Rather than using the space for validation, which many do. Separate facilities don't cut the mustard as there aren't any validating women in there. Why do women have to feel uncomfortable so men can feel 'euphoric'?

MintBird · 10/05/2026 16:28

murasaki · 10/05/2026 16:25

Amd so could transwomen. Rather than using the space for validation, which many do. Separate facilities don't cut the mustard as there aren't any validating women in there. Why do women have to feel uncomfortable so men can feel 'euphoric'?

I don't know about anyone else but I wouldn't consider peeing "euphoric". Unless you're trying to play the "trans people are only trans to be perverts" card, if so that might explain why the gender critical movement has a bad name amongst much of society and alienates a lot of people who otherwise could be allies?

murasaki · 10/05/2026 16:29

Take a look at Reddit, and you'll see what I mean.

HenriettaSwanLeavitt · 10/05/2026 16:32

MintBird · 10/05/2026 16:28

I don't know about anyone else but I wouldn't consider peeing "euphoric". Unless you're trying to play the "trans people are only trans to be perverts" card, if so that might explain why the gender critical movement has a bad name amongst much of society and alienates a lot of people who otherwise could be allies?

It's not the peeing that produces the euphoria. But you know that.

if so that might explain why the gender critical movement has a bad name amongst much of society and alienates a lot of people who otherwise could be allies

Evidence please

Matcheroo · 10/05/2026 16:33

Wearenotborg · 10/05/2026 15:33

So what sex are they? If they are not male or female, what is this third sex called?

You misunderstand me.There are two sexes. Some people with DSDs have features of both. And I don’t think a poster on MN gets to tell another poster who has CAIS, for example, whether they’re a male or a female. That’s for them to decide with their doctors’ assistance.

(Just to be clear, I don’t think anyone who has undergone a male puberty should be competing in women’s sports. With CAIS, more investigation is needed regarding fairness in sports.)

OpheliaWitchoftheWoods · 10/05/2026 16:42

MintBird · 10/05/2026 16:28

I don't know about anyone else but I wouldn't consider peeing "euphoric". Unless you're trying to play the "trans people are only trans to be perverts" card, if so that might explain why the gender critical movement has a bad name amongst much of society and alienates a lot of people who otherwise could be allies?

I'm sorry, that ship has long since sailed.

Women need men-free spaces. End of.

The idea that they should individually risk assess whether this particular man is only shyly and sincerely bashing their boundaries and upsetting/excluding women who can't share mixed sex spaces, or is one of the ones who plans to wank loudly with the cubicle door open while sneering at the women that they can't stop him because he identifies as a woman, is ridiculous. What a man claims might be going on in his head at the time is irrelevant to women.

No men. The End. As the SCJ confirms.

But this does prove that all the wangling and mention of DSDs is solely to continue to try and force women to submit to men in their spaces.

Edited to add: if someone thinks women who need single sex spaces, or who argue and care for women excluded from everything if men selfishly invade women's single sex spaces, is nasty and should be shunned then frankly that's a 'them' problem, and it has major issues with misogyny written all over it.

HenriettaSwanLeavitt · 10/05/2026 16:43

Matcheroo · 10/05/2026 16:33

You misunderstand me.There are two sexes. Some people with DSDs have features of both. And I don’t think a poster on MN gets to tell another poster who has CAIS, for example, whether they’re a male or a female. That’s for them to decide with their doctors’ assistance.

(Just to be clear, I don’t think anyone who has undergone a male puberty should be competing in women’s sports. With CAIS, more investigation is needed regarding fairness in sports.)

And I don’t think a poster on MN gets to tell another poster who has CAIS, for example, whether they’re a male or a female. That’s for them to decide with their doctors’ assistance.

No, they are biologically male. They have testes. What needs to be decided is are they going to live their life as if they are a woman and to what extent should (biological) females accept that.

Matcheroo · 10/05/2026 16:53

CornishDaughteroftheDawn · 10/05/2026 15:27

I’m not sure what your point is. One person with an extremely rare medical condition may (or may not - I’d be interested to see the thread where this all happened - maybe @Notmeagain12 could dig out the thread seeing as he or she has such a clear memory if it?) have been upset by discussion on a public forum where they revealed their unusual situation and therefore invited comment.

Because of that vanishingly rare occurrence, we are all being chastised for holding the line for fact and sanity because we have learnt by bitter experience if we give 1mm to the trans activists, they will run with it forever and we will have men in women’s toilets claiming rare conditions en masse.

It is that simple because it is a fact that DSDs are either an anomaly of male sexual development or an anomaly of female sexual development and there is no third state. Misdiagnosis and mistakes in thinking your child is one thing then finding out they are not are personal things to deal with but still not a problem for us to sort.

It is relevant who started it because we are not the ones weaponising these conditions for our own ends.

So much sympathy for one anonymous, possibly real person on the internet (we only have their word for it) but so little for the situation in which we currently find ourselves.

It is that simple because it is a fact that DSDs are either an anomaly of male sexual development or an anomaly of female sexual development and there is no third state

I mean, you can get a chimera where a male zygote fuses with a female zygote (twins) to form one foetus. Some cells are XX and others XY. Often that affects sex development though not always. Which type of developmental anomaly would you classify that as, male or female? Very rare of course.
But I don’t think you can ignore people just because they have unusual medical conditions.

I do have sympathy for the GC position too.

Taztoy · 10/05/2026 16:59

MintBird · 10/05/2026 16:22

If it's such a big deal to you you could make a point of using the bathroom at home or somewhere nearby near the event before going in, drink minimal fluids at the event then using the bathroom nearby after leaving?

Except for old age or certain medical conditions that should work for most.

I already do this.

AccidentallyWesAnderson · 10/05/2026 17:24

MintBird · 10/05/2026 16:22

If it's such a big deal to you you could make a point of using the bathroom at home or somewhere nearby near the event before going in, drink minimal fluids at the event then using the bathroom nearby after leaving?

Except for old age or certain medical conditions that should work for most.

Or men could just piss in spaces aligned with their sex like they’re supposed to. Just a thought.

Shedmistress · 10/05/2026 17:34

MintBird · 10/05/2026 16:28

I don't know about anyone else but I wouldn't consider peeing "euphoric". Unless you're trying to play the "trans people are only trans to be perverts" card, if so that might explain why the gender critical movement has a bad name amongst much of society and alienates a lot of people who otherwise could be allies?

Allies to reality?

borntobequiet · 10/05/2026 17:43

MintBird · 10/05/2026 16:28

I don't know about anyone else but I wouldn't consider peeing "euphoric". Unless you're trying to play the "trans people are only trans to be perverts" card, if so that might explain why the gender critical movement has a bad name amongst much of society and alienates a lot of people who otherwise could be allies?

I don't know about anyone else but I wouldn't consider peeing "euphoric".

Well, neither would I. But it seems you have a lot to learn about some members of the trans community.

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