A transgender woman in Canada is considering filing a human rights complaint after Bodyworks Fitness banned her from using their women-only gym in the city of Parksville on Vancouver Island.

The gym has two locations – one female-only and the other mixed. Brigid Klyne-Simpson, who has been identifying as a woman for the past three years, signed up to use the female-only facility. However after just one visit, she was asked by staff to use their mixed gym in future.

Brigid told Chek News she was “extremely devastated” by the experience and spoke of feeling very uncomfortable in the past working out around “a bunch of really buff guys at the university gym”:

“I didn’t quite understand why that was uncomfortable because I didn’t know I was trans at the time. I still thought I was a guy. Finding a ladies’ gym was something that seemed really exciting, and now that I’m out, I understand why I was uncomfortable at the other place.

I got a call…basically saying, ‘Sorry, we made a mistake, you’re not actually allowed to be here, but you’re more than welcome to use the co-ed facility

I just hung up, because I mean, I was extremely devastated, there’s really no other word for it.”

Bodyworks Fitness owner Dale Nagra is sticking to his guns:

“We want [Klyne-Simpson] to be comfortable, but we also have to worry about the young girls that this gym is set up for them and the women, and how are their parents are going to feel that they’re in there, then this person walks in with a male voice and big person.

So now you pick the comfort of the male who identifies as a woman…and then anybody can go in there saying, ‘OK, I identify as a woman, and I want to be able to go in there.’ And so, do we pick the comfort of the transgender person, and they may not be as comfortable with the co-ed gym but at least that’s an alternative, or do we pick the comfort of the young girls that are working out there that might not feel comfortable?”

Well that seems like a reasonable way of looking at it. Why should the needs and wants of Brigid Klyne-Simpson trump the needs and wants of every other woman in the gym? Of course the opposing argument is that since Brigid insists she’s a woman, she must be embraced and treated as a woman, which includes being given access to women-only spaces. However, I think we can all understand why that sets a dangerous precedent and why the concept and ease of self-ID can be problematic in situations like this.

Clearly though, Brigid is in need of a few gym sessions so hopefully she plucks up the courage to attend a mixed gym and just get on with it. That discomfort and nervousness she describes feeling in her uni gym is something most people experience tbh, especially if you’re really skinny or really fat and aren’t familiar with the gym yet. Best of luck, Brigid!

For the trans woman who filed a human rights complaint against 16 women for refusing to wax her balls, click HERE.