Because of this legislation and this growing idea that men can “opt in” to womanhood and use women’s facilities I can no longer let my teenage daughter use these facilities alone. If we are shopping she should be able to go off on her own and use the public bathrooms or change rooms as she’s not a little girl anymore. But now I have no confidence that these spaces, these small, essentially dead end spaces will be occupied by other women only so I must accompany her. This might seem like a small thing but it’s not, this impacts our ability to move freely through the public space. I find that I’m treating these spaces like I would a lift that’s occupied by one man. I was always taught - and I have taught my daughters - to not get in a lift if there is only a single man. Of course most men do not harm women and girls but for those that do, a lift - an enclosed space - represents an opportunity to offend. A public bathroom and change rooms have now become like the lift. We don’t go there alone, we check if anyone else is in there. We proceed with caution. And to add insult to injury we are mocked for wanting women’s spaces to remain women only.
I don’t believe in “gender.” Forcing women to accept men in private spaces is essentially forcing women to act in accordance with someone else’s religious belief. The idea that a man can be a woman because of “how he feels inside” is a religious or spiritual claim. Don’t force women to adopt this faith as our own and place ourselves at risk.
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