The Girls Spot, a women-only gym, faces backlash after withdrawing trans inclusivity

A women-only gym is at the centre of a controversy after making a U-turn on its trans inclusive policy.
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Back in 2021, Natalee Barnett, founder of the women's only gym, The Girls Spot, announced that her gym would always welcome trans women. However, this year, as the gym opens its doors after four years of fundraising, Barnett has backtracked on her inclusivity policy — and is facing huge backlash online as a result.

Initially, Barnett's statements were firm — The Girls Spot was designed to include all women, including trans women. “Respectfully, if you have a problem with trans women attending my gym then you can find another gym to train at,” she wrote on Twitter, now X. “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.”

In 2022, Barnett even spoke to GLAMOUR about her plans for a trans-inclusive women's gym. "The benefits of a women-only space are endless,” she said at the time. “The ability to lean on other women and be in their exact position. Reducing the gym intimidation and gym harassment experienced, meeting other mums and women who share similar experiences even outside the gym day to day. As well as allowing Muslim women, plus size women and transgender women a safe, inclusive space to train daily.”

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However, in more recent posts, Barnett has made a U-turn on her promise.

In a viral video posted this week, Barnett referenced her tweet from 2021 explaining that her concept had changed. “When I made that tweet in 2021, I had just announced my plans to open a women’s-only gym. I hadn’t fully thought out the vision or mission of what it would entail,” she said. “The Girls Spot exists as a safe space for women because we’re facing gym harassment, sexual assault, and violence in gyms — I know this because I am a victim of it. The meaning of The Girls Spot is now entirely different.”

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She then explained that the gym would include “self-defence classes, Muay Thai, boxing classes, as well as workshops and activations around PCOS [Polycystic Ovaries Syndrome] and training on your menstrual cycle, all of which occur to biological women”.

She went on: “The majority of the women who are seeking my women’s only gym are coming here because they have faced some level of gym intimidation or sexual violence and assault that has been perpetrated by men. As the owner of the gym, it is very important to be clear how my women’s only gym will be operating, it will be operating as a single sex space for biological women."

Her new policy has been criticised by many online.

“I’m sorry, you think TRANS WOMEN don’t face SA??? The violence towards women at gyms occur from CISHET men, not trans women. It is IMPERATIVE that you use this space to create awareness and a chance for people to see that trans women also deserve to be humanised and recognised. This is so disappointing and shameful,” one comment read.

Another wrote, “Trans women are our sisters and are just as likely to face misogyny in exercise spaces, with the added danger of transmisogyny. There is no way I would attend any gym that excludes ANY of my sisters and I would hazard that the vast majority of women feel the same way.”

A third comment read, "Very disappointing to see you backtrack, but not surprised. So many supposed ‘allies’ don't actually have the backbone to actually defend us and unpack their prejudice."

Yesterday, Barnett posted a follow-up video on Instagram about the backlash to her video from earlier in the week. “I want to address the recent response to my announcement about The Girls Spot being a single-sex space and operating as female-only," she wrote in the caption. “I wholeheartedly sympathise with Trans women and allies who feel hurt by my recent announcement and I appreciate that the decision to operate in this way will come to as a disappointment to some.”

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She later added, “I want to be clear, I am in no way saying that trans women don’t face adversity or that they don’t deserve a safe space because they absolutely do. We’re all entitled to be treated with kindness and respect,” before adding, “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. I spent a great deal of time and money including seeking legal advice and it was absolutely not a choice made lightly or out of exclusion or malice, but rather out of my commitment to ensuring a space where women who have experienced trauma, harassment, or discomfort in co-ed gyms can feel at ease. That has always been my mission and drive behind the business.”

She concluded, “The Girls Spot is on a long journey and I will continue to listen, learn and lend my support for there to be inclusive fitness spaces for all. My hope is that every woman, cis and trans, finds a space as they need to feel secure strong and empowered.”