In Australia and around the world, legislation is being introduced that replaces sex with gender identity. Advocates insist that there is no conflict of interest. But governments are not collecting data on the impacts of this legislative change. We're worried about the impacts on women of men using women-only spaces, including but not limited to: changing rooms, fitting rooms, bathrooms, shelters, rape and domestic violence refuges, gyms, spas, sports, schools, accommodations, hospital wards, shortlists, prizes, quotas, political groups, prisons, clubs, events, festivals, dating apps, and language. If we can't collect data, we can at least collect stories. Please tell us how your use of women-only spaces has been impacted. All stories will be published anonymously. If you know of other women who have been impacted, please encourage them to tell their stories too.
This site is run from Australia, New Zealand members of the LGB Defence, AWW Inc. and supported by LGB Alliance.
I have been admitted into public hospital and had to share a room with a male each time. It was extremely uncomfortable, particularly when the doctors were discussing personal physical issues easily overheard by the other patient. Going to the bathroom while managing a drip machine and keeping the hospital garment closed in the back was difficult. Going into a heavy drug induced sleep in a room with an unknown ambulatory male is very stressful.
I was working behind the bar at a traditional pub and a tall, burly man walked in. He was dressed entirely like any bloke only he had on a skirt on top of his clothes. He asked to use the bathroom politely enough, so I agreed (against our policy I might add) even though he wasn't a customer. Once he got to the bathrooms he turned left to go to the ladies and I shouted after him to turn the other way. He replied he identifies as a woman so he will use the ladies. I said "uh, no you won't, it's the gents or nothing." He looked like he was going to argue but did as he was told. I had a strange feeling he was testing the waters to see if he could get away with it and I didn't see him again so I was happy I stood up to him. That incident was on a quiet afternoon but if I said yes, who knows, next one might have been a busy night with vulnerable ladies in the toilets too. Just got a weird vibe from him I guess...
The current state of affairs has been in the making for some decades. About 20 years ago I acted pro bono for an Order of nuns who ran, among other charitable programs, a refuge for women and children who had been forced to leave their homes due to domestic violence. A claim was brought against the Order by a trans person, of quite notable size and stature, because they had been refused a place in the refuge. The accomodation provided for the women and children at that time consisted of dormitory style rooms accomodating up to 10 beds. Bathrooms were shared. Despite the fear of many of the women I spoke to living there at the time, the Order was forced into mediation and into allowing trans people to live at the refuge. I doubt very much that the claimant had a need of protection from domestic violence or accommodation in the refuge but was simply aiming to make a test case for others to follow. I was appalled at this outcome and still get annoyed thinking about it to this day. How has it come to the point that biological women and their children who are escaping a violent household should be subject to a male person clearly not biologically female, but merely self-identifying as a 'woman', being allowed by law to live in a facility designed to keep women safe from the fear of male violence?
