Women-Only Gym Adopts Female-Only Policy, and Reaps the Whirlwind

Over the weekend, I wrote about a bathhouse in San Francisco that introduced two distinct “women’s nights” that will be held each month. One is “inclusive” and will welcome anyone who claims to be a “woman,” while the second night will offer a “female-only phallus-free environment.” Predictably, activists have dubbed the spa “transphobic.” But the bathhouse isn’t the only venue that has been recently branded as hateful for adopting a female-only policy: A women-only gym opening soon in London has similarly become a target for its “trans-exclusionary” stance.

For years, fitness guru Natalee Barnett has been open with her more than 1 million social media followers about her plans to open a women-only gym, citing her own history of having been sexually assaulted in a gym. Barnett’s project — called “The Girls Spot” — states on its website that it “stems from the desire to tackle gym harassment, intimidation and sexual harassment that women face in the gym regularly.” In 2021, she announced that the supposed women-only gym would welcome “trans women,” meaning men. “Respectfully, if you have a problem with trans women attending my gym then you can find another gym to train at,” Barnett wrote on social media. “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.”

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Abigail Anthony

Abigail Anthony is a staff writer at National Review.

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Over the weekend, I wrote about a bathhouse in San Francisco that introduced two distinct “women’s nights” that will be held each month. One is “inclusive” and will welcome anyone who claims to be a “woman,” while the second night will offer a “female-only phallus-free environment.” Predictably, activists have dubbed the spa “transphobic.” But the bathhouse isn’t the only venue that has been recently branded as hateful for adopting a female-only policy: A women-only gym opening soon in London has similarly become a target for its “trans-exclusionary” stance.

For years, fitness guru Natalee Barnett has been open with her more than 1 million social media followers about her plans to open a women-only gym, citing her own history of having been sexually assaulted in a gym. Barnett’s project — called “The Girls Spot” — states on its website that it “stems from the desire to tackle gym harassment, intimidation and sexual harassment that women face in the gym regularly.” In 2021, she announced that the supposed women-only gym would welcome “trans women,” meaning men. “Respectfully, if you have a problem with trans women attending my gym then you can find another gym to train at,” Barnett wrote on social media. “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.”