Polling Shows Britons Overwhelmingly Oppose Trans in Female-Only Spaces

Not even a third of Britons think men should be allowed inside women’s only spaces, to compete in women’s only sports, or to provide “female-only intimate care”, a national poll finds.

The overwhelming plurality or majority of Britons, when asked, say individuals and organisations should be legally permitted to exclude so-called ‘transwomen’ from certain roles and places to preserve female-only spaces. The findings came from a poll by an independent pollster for the advocacy group Sex Matters, who polled a typical sample size for a UK nationwide poll and asked a series of questions about different circumstances where what they call “men who identify as women” may wish to be in women’s spaces.

While the results vary to some degree, all of the results show more — and considerably more in some cases — people agree than disagree that there should be a right to exclude ‘transwomen’ from some places.

The most overwhelming result was for women’s only sports, where 56 per cent of Britons polled said sports associations should be allowed to restrict their events to one gender, with just 24 per cent disagreeing. 48 per cent said ‘transwomen’ should be excluded from women’s changing rooms and showers with 28 per cent opposing the restriction.

In all, the public opposed as a majority or plurality men claiming to be women being involved in “intimate care” for women, teachers searching female children at schools, sports, toilets, showers, and Girlguiding.

The polling comes just days ahead of a Parliamentary debate on the Equality Act, which critics say is presently too vague in its wording. Under the terms of the law, certain personal ‘characteristics’, such as race and sexual orientation, are protected under law. But in the case of what constitutes a man or a woman, it is vague and doesn’t distinguish between biological sex or gender identity.

Maya Forstater of Sex Matters says UK law should return to its roots to prohibit sex discrimination “just as it did in 1975” because despite the belief of some that “gender identity trumps sex”, it is nevertheless the case that “the material reality of sex continues to exist, and women still suffer discrimination because they are female”.

Calling for the law to change to provide that clarity, Sex Matters said: “Reassuring service-providers that they won’t be sued if they simply and clearly exclude all male people from women’s spaces, sports and associations is crucial to give them confidence to provide services and facilities that are fair, safe and inclusive for women and girls.”