MAFS star slams ‘female and non-binary’ bathroom at Melbourne brewery

A lesbian Married At First Sight star has weighed in on the culture war over gender-neutral bathrooms after visiting a Melbourne bar with inclusive facilities.

Gender-neutral bathrooms have in recent years become the battleground between transgender advocates, who support them, and right-wing feminists, who see them as a way for biological men to encroach on women’s space.

Amanda Micallef criticized the venue for having a “feminine and non-binary” bathroom and expressed concern about the possibility that a “man who considers himself non-binary” would use the facilities around biological women.

“Non-binary” is an umbrella term for gender identities that are not exclusively male or female‍. Non-binary people sometimes use they/them pronouns.

“I think it’s a bad move for business,” Ms Micallef added on Instagram. “I mean, is that how I read this sign?”

“You might as well do gender neutral toilets and put a lot of people off in a kid-friendly business,” she added.

Ms Micallef criticized the venue for having a “female and non-binary” bathroom and expressed concern about the possibility of “a man who considers himself non-binary” using the facilities.

The debate over gender-neutral bathrooms ranges from legitimate concerns that women feel comfortable in public spaces, to fake far-right conspiracy theories that transgender people are “predators.”

Women who oppose inclusive bathrooms on principle are sometimes referred to as TERFs or trans-exclusion radical feminists, a term coined to describe feminists who only advocate for the rights of biological women, not trans women.

One of the most talked-about opponents of gender-neutral facilities is Harry Potter author JK Rowling, who has argued, “If you throw open the doors of bathrooms and dressing rooms to a man who believes or feels he is a woman… you open the door.” for all the men who want to enter.’

“I think it’s a bad move for business,” Ms Micallef said. “I mean, is that how I read this sign?” ‘Might as well do gender neutral toilets and scare off a lot of people’

Rowling, whose views have been widely condemned by transgender people and their allies, said in a June 2020 3,600-word essay that “the new trans activism” is eroding women’s and girls’ rights to same-sex spaces by providing “cover for predators.” Reuters reports.

LGBT advocates, on the other hand, argue that gender-neutral bathrooms don’t replace women’s bathrooms, but simply provide a safe option for trans and non-binary people.

The suggestion that these toilets and other gender-inclusive policies are part of a plan for transgender people to hurt or harass women has been described as conspiracy theory with no factual basis.

Trans activists note that the way their community is treated today is no different from how gays and lesbians were treated with suspicion in the past.

Gender-neutral bathrooms have in recent years become the battleground between transgender advocates, who support them, and right-wing feminists, who see them as a way for biological men to invade women’s spaces (stock image)