Trans female banned from popular womens only gym

A transgender woman has claimed that a popular women’s only gym discriminated against her by denying her a membership – with the fitness chain now speaking out and seemingly standing by its decision.The gymgoer recently shared an alleged correspondence with a Fernwood Fitness staff member on a transgender Reddit forum.“I’m sorry, the Fernwood company policy is not inclusive of transgender women,” the text read.“Fernwood offers membership only to biologically born females who identify as female.If you wish to discuss this further, please direct questions to our head office.”The poster stated that they had “no idea” this was a known problem that they should have been aware of, and questioned whether it was against the law.“I’ve not been ‘out’ for all that long, this is the first time discrimination has happened so directly and personally, (it) caught me off guard,” they explained.

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Fernwood Fitness, a women’s only gym chain, has over 70 locations across Australia and more than 90,000 members.The business operates on a franchised model, where franchisees own and operate individual Fernwood Fitness clubs.It is not known at what exact location this issue occurred, but the poster lives in Victoria.Fernwood respondsA spokesperson for Fernwood Fitness told news.com.au, “Fernwood Fitness proactively reached out to the person in question to acknowledge her as an individual and to talk about her experience.“This outreach was made with genuine care, recognising the personal nature of her inquiry.Fernwood appreciates the courage it can take to inquire about a membership as a transgender woman and acknowledges that the experience may have been hurtful or disappointing.

Fernwood Fitness extends its sincere empa...