Fitness influencer bans trans women from her upcoming women-only gym

The creator of a women’s gym that has not yet opened in London originally promised that her business would be trans-inclusive, but has now walked back her promise with a message that implies that trans women are likely to sexually assault cis women, which is false.

Fitness influencer Natalee Barnett has been talking about her project to make an all-women gym in London since at least 2021 when she launched a GoFundMe for it. At the time, she said that trans women would be welcome at the athletic club, which she calls, “The Girls Spot.”

“Respectfully, if you have a problem with trans women attending my gym then you can find another gym to train at,” she tweeted at the time. “I have discussed this several times before. trans women are women and also a minority that need to be protected. Please keep your transphobia away.”

Four years later – and closer to the opening of The Girls Spot – Barnett has changed her mind about the policy.

“When I made that tweet in 2021, I had just announced my plans to open a women’s only gym. I hadn’t thought out the vision or the mission of what it would entail,” she said in a video posted to social media, Out reports. “The Girls Spot Gym exists as a safe space for women because we’re now facing gym harassment, sexual assault, and sexual violence inside of gyms and I know that because I am a victim of it. The meaning for The Girls Spot gym is now entirely different.”

“It will be operating as a single sex space for biological women,” she continued. “It is imperative that I stick to the vision and the mission and ensure that these women feel safe.”

The implication that trans women are more likely to commit acts of violence against cis women is not supported by research. In fact, transgender people are more likely to be the victims of such violence compared to cis people.

Some people responded to her post with disappointment, with one person pointing out that the policy would be difficult to enforce without “checking private parts at the door” and could lead to “transvestigation,” which is a term for when people try to determine whether someone else is trans, often by closely examining their features.

Barnett responded by doubling down.

“The decision to have The Girls Spot as a single sex gym for those biologically female was not an easy decision and something that I thought over for many years,” she wrote on X in a post that has since been deleted. “My hope is that every woman cis and trans finds a space as they need to feel secure strong and empowered.”

Much of Barnett’s social media posts are about the necessity of a women’s gym, citing men’s behavior at mainstream gyms as the reason a women’s only gym is needed.

Subscribe to the LGBTQ Nation newsletter and be the first to know about the latest headlines shaping LGBTQ+ communities worldwide.

Don’t forget to share:

Originally Posted Here