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However, when she inquired via text about becoming a member as a transgender woman, she was informed by a manager at Fernwood Fitness in Melbourne that “the Fernwood policy does not include transgender women”.
Elara received a notification from a manager at a Fernwood Fitness gym in Melbourne, stating that only “biologically born females who identify as female” are allowed to join the women-only gym. Source: Supplied
Fernwood Fitness is one of the leading women-only gym chains in Australia. They have over 70 clubs across Australia and over 90,000 members.
“I was just in shock,” Elara shared. “My experiences being a trans woman in Melbourne so far have shown that the level of negativity, opposition, and exclusion we often anticipate from the media isn’t what I’ve encountered.”
“It really took me aback and made me think about all the rights that we think we have here … to just find out that some people can be like, ‘nah,’ that company policy is to just say no.”
Is it legal to exclude trans women from women-only spaces?
“Fernwood is perfectly entitled to have a women-only gym,” she told SBS News. “But women include trans women in Australia.”
Paula Gerber, a professor in human rights law at Monash University, said that while women-only gyms are lawful in Australia, excluding trans women from them is not. Source: Getty / Kazuma Seki
“It is not lawful to have a women’s only venue and say that’s only for people who were described as female on their birth certificate,” Gerber said.
“For example, some clubs may provide benefits for members of particular age groups or single sex,” according to the Victorian Equal Opportunity and Human Rights Commission’s website.
Fernwood is perfectly entitled to have a women-only gym. But women include trans women in Australia.
Paula Gerber, human rights law expert
The commission granted the exemption for five years, saying female-only fitness clubs were a “welfare” and “equal opportunity” measure.
SBS News has contacted Fernwood for clarification on this issue but has not received a response.
Fernwood defends policy as necessary for ’emotional and physical safety’
“Fernwood Fitness proactively reached out to Elara to acknowledge her as an individual and to talk about her experience,” the statement provided to SBS News read.
“This is not a reflection on personal identity, but rather a commitment to maintaining the integrity of a space that many women rely on. Fernwood is currently reviewing all relevant legal requirements.”
‘Trans women are women’, legal expert says
Gerber said these arguments may not hold legal weight when used to exclude trans women.
Paula Gerber, a professor of human rights law at Monash University, said Fernwood’s argument may not hold legal weight when used to exclude transgender women. Credit: Paula Gerber
“Women include trans women in Australia — that’s very clear from the decision in Tickle and Giggle and the Lesbian Action Group,” Gerber said.
The Federal Court ruled: “The acceptance that Ms Tickle is correctly described as a woman, reinforcing her gender identity status for the purposes of this proceeding, and therefore for the purposes of bringing her present claim of gender identity discrimination, is legally unimpeachable.”
Supporters of Roxanne Tickle hold a sign outside the Federal Court of Australia in April 2024. TERF stands for ‘trans-exclusionary radical feminist’. Source: AAP / Bianca De Marchi
In 2023, the Lesbian Action Group applied for an exemption from the Sex Discrimination Act to host regular publicly advertised ‘lesbians born female only events’.
She said these cases may influence what the law says about Fernwood’s exclusion of trans women: “That’s contrary to what the law says — the law says trans women are women.”
Trans safety in women’s spaces
“The same drivers of violence that impact cis women equally drive violence against trans women, including rigid gender norms and dominant forms of masculinity,” a ZBGC spokesperson said.
A La Trobe University study found transgender and non-binary people were more likely to experience high psychological distress than cisgender people. Source: SBS News
Trans women, trans men and non-binary people were also more likely to experience very high psychological distress compared to cisgender women and men, according to La Trobe University’s Private Lives 3 report from 2021.
A 2023 survey of 3,099 transgender people conducted by the Trans Justice Project and the Victorian Pride Lobby found one in two participants had experienced anti-trans hate. One in ten had experienced anti-trans violence, and nine in ten had witnessed online anti-trans abuse.
Trans women and cis women have much in common, including being disproportionately impacted by men’s violence.
Spokesperson, Zoe Belle Gender Collective
“These incidents may also contribute to some trans women feeling unsafe to access the services our society has created to support victims of violence.”
‘Trans women are not a threat’
“Men pretending to be women so that they can get into a women’s only gym and assault someone … that’s not what trans women are doing,” Gerber said. “Trans women are just trying to be themselves and live their authentic life. They’re not a threat.”
