Trans women demanding access to previously safeguarded zones for biological women has become an increasingly common phenomenon. This is now the third recent case involving a man who works out at a gym, identifies as a woman, and wishes to change in the women’s locker room. When he is denied, he feels offended and files a complaint with the Equality Ombudsman (DO).

In November, Samnytt reported on a trans woman who demanded to work out at a women-only gym in Norrköping. In that case, the DO ruled that the man had been subjected to discrimination by not being allowed to train with women.

In May, it was a trans woman in police training who felt discriminated against because he was no longer allowed to change with the women.

Now, at a gym belonging to the STC chain in Kungälv, a trans woman was again denied her request, and now considers herself to be discriminated against.

In the complaint to the DO, which Samnytt has reviewed, the complainant writes that he wanted to have his gender changed from male to female in STC’s membership register. He also points out that he lives fully as a woman, has changed his name, and has submitted an application to the National Board of Health and Welfare to also legally change his gender.

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“When I contacted STC to have my gender changed in their system, I was informed that they only grant access to the women’s locker room based on legal gender linked to personal identity number. They therefore stated that they cannot give me access to the women’s locker room until my legal gender has been changed. Instead, they offered to change my gender marker to ‘Other’ in their system,” the man writes to the DO, continuing:

“For me, this practically means that I have no locker room that I can use, either for changing clothes or simply to lock up my belongings in the lockers where one has authorization. I find the situation exclusionary and feel that I am being treated differently because of my gender identity and expression.”

Email conversation between the complainant and STC:

STC’s response to the DO:

STC also writes that they do not consider that the complainant has been subjected to discrimination. At the same time, they point out that the chain “offers gender-specific changing rooms for the purpose of protecting all members’ personal integrity and safety in an intimate environment” and that among their members, “there are people with varying backgrounds, including individuals with religious dress codes requiring them to be in single-sex spaces, and individuals who have been exposed to traumatic experiences.”

Having offered the complainant non-discriminatory alternatives, they believe that no wrongdoing has occurred.

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