Out in the hallway, where staff took down Sarah's contact details in order to follow up on the incident, the manager asked whether she had undergone gender reassignment surgery.

"I asked if that was the condition on which trans women were allowed in the changing room — that we would have to have had surgery, knowing that a lot of trans people don’t get surgery for so many reasons: because it’s expensive, or because they want to wait, or that they don’t feel like they should get it at all," she explained.

The Equality Act 2010, which is designed to protect trans people from discrimination, states: "you do not need to have undergone any specific treatment or surgery to change from your birth sex to your preferred gender." It goes on to say: "This is because changing your physiological or other gender attributes is a personal process rather than a medical one."



Sarah declined to share such intimate information with staff and, after providing contact details, left.

PureGym has since issued detailed transgender access guidelines titled "Everyone Welcome", which are compliant with the 2004 Gender Recognition Act and seek to determine changing room use on a case-by-case basis.



Sarah said she had chosen PureGym as she believed it to be a trans-inclusive gym. A section of its website entitled "Everyone, Everywhere" states:



"We have created a friendly, supportive place where everybody is welcome, in a judgement free zone.



"We are here to help and support everybody, whoever they are. We have members from all walks of life, shapes and sizes, abilities, experience levels, and all types of goals."

Detail about gender is not stated in information relating to changing rooms on PureGym's website. A list of gym rules, which includes guidance on the use of lockers and courtesy to other members, does not specify any information about gendered use of changing rooms. While a number of PureGym branches offer "ladies only" facilities, the site at which this incident took place is not included.



Throughout the exchange, Sarah said staff seemed unclear as to what PureGym's policy was on gender and changing rooms, but that in this instance, because another member had said they felt uncomfortable, she was not permitted to use the women's changing room.

"I asked if it was the policy that trans women were not allowed in the women’s locker room and [the manager] said that she didn’t know the policy in particular," Sarah continued.



"She just kept saying that I had to leave because someone had reported me. Nowhere in any of this did she tell me that I’d done anything wrong.



"I asked her if it was the official policy that if someone was made uncomfortable because I was trans that I’d have to leave, and she said she didn’t know the policy but I would have to leave."

