women's area of mixed-sex gym

I belong to a gym with big emphasis on weight lifting. Lots of big brawny guys lifting heavy. There is also a small women's area upstairs which the Muslim girls tend to use. A trans-identified man joined. He asked management if he could use the women-only area. They said no - and understandably so, given the cultural sensitivities of Muslim women and their need for privacy.

I was struck by how nonsensical it was for a trans-identified man to join a very blokey gym and to then seek use of the female-only space. A mischievous claim of discrimination in the making most likely.

#australia #womensareas #gym #weightlifting #trans #SelfID #singlesexspaces

Lesbian Lost Spaces

Australia had once a vibrant Lesbian culture, pretty much any night of the week barring Monday. There were places to go, events, shops, dances, bars and lesbian-only nights. Now that's gone. Where did they go, why did they go, what is the impact on lesbians in losing spaces to associate - particularly for young lesbians. What do we do to get it back? Members of the LGB Alliance Australia chat with author Susan Hawthorne, co-founder of Spinnifex one of the few women-only spaces left in Victoria, Australia. #Victoria #Australia #LostSpaces #Lesbian

women-only compartments in trains (india)

Public transport like buses and trains in India have women-only coaches and seats to protect women from male violence. Women in the city I am in rely on these women-only compartments to be able to earn their living and exercise their basic rights of movement and personal liberty.

On an evening in 2017 I was travelling back home and it was fairly crowded, though not too much. I saw a man dressed in a salwar-kameez (common attire for Indian women) talking on the phone in the women-only compartment. He carried himself in an effeminate manner, e.g. long hair, purse, make-up (don't remember exactly). I felt a bit uncomfortable with him present in the women-only compartment. I noticed that other women around me would look at him, for like a second, and then just look away - mainly, we all minded our business while this man in a dress was going on about the rights of trans-identified people, on the phone.

This happened before I became a TERF. Before I even knew what "gender identity" meant. And yet this incident has been in my memory - I was uncomfortable with his presence in a women-only space. So I guess the erosion of and intrusion across women's boundaries in the Global South has already begun, thanks to genderists and their cronies here in India.

#india #trains #publictransport #safespaces #womenonly #maleviolence #freedomofmovement #singlesexspaces #selfID