I’ve just had a message from an old lady friend, and she’s invited me to a ladies-only swimming session. Squeeeee!
Let’s call this lady Jan. She’s a cracking mate, cisgender herself and completely fine with me being trans – really encouraging. Always has been.
I’ve not seen her for probably over a year, but now we’re back in touch again as she’s rejoined my Slimming World group. She just wants to get to target for the THIRD time and she’ll probably walk it, as she did twice before!
Anyway, part of the Slimming World plan is called Body Magic – and this basically involves exercise. Jan’s been busy swimming a couple of times a week of late and knows that I want to get back into exercise, but without giving up half my weekend to do 100km-plus bike rides like I used to.
So she’s invited me along to a ladies-only swimming session, which she already goes to. Hoorah! Not only would I love to, but it felt amazing just to have been asked in the first place. Validation – Jan’s a treasure!
I’ve not really been swimming since transitioning. The only time I can remember swimming in my swimdress cossie was during a holiday in Greece two or three years ago – but that was in the sea. I ventured down to the hotel pool one day, too, but wasn’t brave enough to swim.
I used to love swimming as a kid, and I miss it. But I’ve always shyed away from it in public pools since transition because I don’t want to cause any awkwardness – either for me or for other women in the changing room.
Something queen TERF Posie Parker often trots out goes something like this:
“Does my 11 year old daughter have the right to use a changing room without seeing an adult penis?”
And, ya know what, Posie, I actually agree with you on this one. No, she shouldn’t be exposed to penises in women’s changing rooms.
I’d also say that 11-year-old boys shouldn’t be seeing adult penises in men’s changing rooms. Surely they’re far more at risk from dodgy paedo blokes in male changing rooms than girls are in the women’s.
If it were down to me, everyone would have their own private cubicles. Call me old-fashioned, but I don’t think any adult should be parading their genitals in front of kids, whether that’s men or women in front of boys or girls – in any combination.
These open-plan changing areas scare me – they even scared me in what I call my previous life, in bloke mode.
And I don’t know of a single trans woman – especially pre-surgery – who would feel comfortable getting changed in one of these areas in front of cis women and girls.
So I asked my pal: does the women’s changing room at the leisure centre have cubicles? And, thanks heavens, yes it does. Hooray!
So, I’m looking forward to joining her at a ladies-only swim session in the next few days. I just need to find my cossie first!
Andie xxx
PS Appeal to trans ladies reading this, how have you fared in women’s changing rooms, whether at a pool, or gym or anywhere else? Has it all been plain sailing, or have you had any issues? If you have had issues, how did you deal with them? Leave a comment in the box below or, if you’d rather contact me privately, you can email me at andiepasdedeux@hotmail.com.
- If you enjoy the blog, please do me a favour and click on one or two of the adverts – this gives me a few pennies, which add up over the year to pay for the hosting. Thank you. Andie xxx
Leave a Reply