The poolâs Facebook page was disabled following the public outcry. In an attempt to quell the controversy, McIverâs Ladies Baths has changed the wording of its FAQ section several times. As of Tuesday afternoon, its website now claims that âtransgender women are welcome to the McIverâs Ladies Bathsâ but adds that the companyâs âdefinition for transgender is as per the NSW Discrimination Act.â
The law to which McIverâs Ladies Baths is referring, the New South Wales Anti-Discrimination Act 1977, prohibits bias in areas like education and employment on the basis of characteristics like sexual orientation and gender identity. As a protected class, it defines trans people as âsomeone whose recorded sex is changed under law.â
The McIver’s Ladies Baths Is An Oasis For All Women It was like a vision of heaven in there. I went for a swim and left quietly a few hours later, glowing. I felt so seamlessly accepted, so safe. It was one of my happiest days.
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The first time I went to McIver’s Ladies Baths in Sydney, I was ready for a fight.
It was Boxing Day 2016 and my new Australian passport had arrived on Christmas Eve, with gender marker ‘F’ for female. This was my first ever ID to indicate that I am a woman a federally issued document, recognised internationally. I still had a dick. Earlier I had asked in a trans women’s Facebook support group if anyone had been to McIver’s before. I remember reading a comment that said, “As long as you’re not waving it around doing helicopters, you’ll be fine.” So I went down to Coogee literally clutching my passport, as if I w
Published January 12, 2021
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CONTENT WARNING: This article discusses transphobia and gender-affirmation.
McIver’s Ladies Baths – a sea pool to the south of Sydney’s iconic Coogee Beach – has been called out for transphobia after it was found to be explicitly barring trans women who haven’t had gender-affirmation surgery from using its grounds.
A popular women s only pool in Sydney s eastern suburbs is facing a backlash after saying that transgender customers would only be allowed in if they ve had gender reassignment surgery. The McIver s Ladies Baths in Coogee uploaded the rule onto a FAQ section of its website, stoking hundreds of angry comments directed towards its management on social media. Under a headline titled Are transgender women allowed? the website stated: Only transgender women who ve undergone a gender reassignment surgery are allowed entry. Overnight thousands of people have taken to the pool s Facebook page to express their anger at the rule, arguing that is discriminatory and would be impossible to enforce.
A ladies-only rock pool at a popular beach has banned transgender women unless they have undergone sex-change surgery.
McIver s Ladies Baths in Coogee, in Sydney s east, updated the policy on its website, sparking a litany of furious comments online. Only transgender women who have undergone a gender reassignment surgery are allowed entry, a new entry in its FAQ section read.
The baths also made a Facebook post explaining the policy but deleted it after numerous angry comments, and the website updated again.
McIver’s Ladies Baths in Coogee (pictured above) was founded in 1922 and prides itself on being a safe and welcoming place for women and children to bathe, relax, and learn swimming and water safety skills