(LifeSiteNews) — In February, UK fitness influencer Natalee Barnet announced that, after a long entrepreneurial journey that included seeking investor support and fundraising from her supporters, she would soon be opening her new women-only gym in Wadsworth, London. Called “The Girls Spot,” Barnet described her new venture as stemming “from the desire to tackle gym harassment, intimidation, and sexual harassment that women face in the gym regularly.”
The Girls Spot, she wrote, will be “an environment that allows women to thrive as women,” meaning that only females will be permitted membership. Naturally, trans activists responded to the news as a challenge.
As reported by Reduxx, Barnet had initially been open to allowing trans-identifying men into her planned facility, writing in 2021 on Twitter that: “Respectfully, if you have a problem with trans women [sic] attending my gym then you can find another gym to train at. I have discussed this several times before, trans women are women and also a minority that need to be protected. Please keep your transphobia away.”
But on March 9, Barnet stated that she has changed her mind on that issue. As Reduxx reported:
She noted that she had not really fully considered the vision of the gym, which now extends to self-defense classes such as Muay Thai, and hosting “events, workshops and activations around PCOS and training on your menstrual cycle.” The majority of women who would want to come to the gym are those who had experienced harassment or sexual assault, and therefore it was “imperative that [she] stick to the vision and the mission and ensure that these women feel safe.”
Barnet’s position appears to have been evolving on this issue for some time. In 2022, she explained to the Daily Mail that single-sex spaces were important to her due to her own experience of sexual assault at a gym when she was 18:
I was sitting in front of the mirrors next to a male gym-goer, who I’d known for a while, and we were talking. As I laid back on one of the benches, he touched me really inappropriately. I don’t want to give exact details as it’s too upsetting. It was so rapid that at first, I questioned whether it had happened at all. I couldn’t believe a man would do such a thing to a woman in a public space. I jumped to my feet, without saying a word and kind of stumbled away. I was in shock. He’d never done anything to make me suspect he’d behave like that. I’ve no idea why he thought he could get away with it. I didn’t say anything to any of my family. I was upset and processing what had happened. I’ve got brothers and knew if they found out they would be very angry.
Barnet then clarified her stance recently on X, stating: “Addressing my tweet from 2021. The Girls Spot operates as a female-only gym for biological women, tackling harassment, sexual assault & violence that women face inside the gym. The tweet circling was made 4 years ago and I was in the very early stages of creating a concept.”
But for trans activists, the safety of women and girls is secondary to their identity claims. The online backlash was both instantaneous and vile. Barnet has over a million followers on TikTok, and trans activists began coming through her previous comments—and came for her with a vengeance. Most of the comments are too obscene to publish, but here is just a censored sampling:
Die you f*****g piece of s**t
girl f**k you @nataleebfitness die
you’re a hypocritical transphobic b**tch and I hope you drop dead you can’t just chance your f*****g mind you B**CH eat s**t and die
F**k you with that “biological woman” bull***t…I’m just as much a biological woman as you, even though I had the incredible misfortune of being born with extra skin between my legs
Trans women are women and you’re a bigot
All that, and much, much worse. Trans activists do not seem to understand that their insistence on being included in female-only spaces is undermined by their torrent of immediate threats, crude name-calling, and death-wishes whenever someone publicly, and graciously, disagrees with them. Or as J.K. Rowling summarized the story: “‘Let us in your gym or we’ll kill you’ say men who pose no risk to women whatsoever.”
READ: Homosexual Harvard professor demands firing of academics who oppose gender ideology
Barnet attempted to explain herself to her detractors, but to no avail:
I wholeheartedly sympathise with Trans women [sic] and allies who feel hurt by my recent announcement and I appreciate that the decision to operate in this way will come to [sic] as a disappointment to some. This has been the unwavering driver behind The Girls Spot and I am excited to launch this space. I want to be clear, I am in no way saying that trans women don’t face adversity or that they don’t deserve a safe space because they absolutely do. We’re all entitled to be treated with kindness and respect. The Girls Spot is no different to many other businesses and we operate in accordance with carefully considered financial budgets, balanced by location, operating hours and longevity, meaning it isn’t possible in our early stages to provide all-alternatives [sic].
The decision to have The Girls Spot as a single sex gym for those biologically female was not an easy decision and something that I thought over for many years. I spent a great deal of time and money seeking legal advice and it was absolutely not a choice made lightly or out of exclusion or malice, but rather out of my commitment to ensuring a space where women who have experienced trauma, harassment, or discomfort in co-ed gyms can feel at ease,” Barnet continued. “That has always been my mission and drive behind the business. The Girls Spot is on a long journey and I will continue to listen, learn and lend my support for there to be inclusive fitness spaces for all. My hope is that every woman, cis and trans, finds a space as they need to feel secure, strong and empowered.
Despite her unfortunate insistence on affirming men as “trans women,” Barnet is committed to holding firm—and getting plenty of support from grateful women. If anything, Barnet’s detractors have proven her point: female-only spaces really are necessary—especially considering the seething abuse and hatred that lurks just beneath the façade of the trans identities donned by men insisting that women allow them access to single-sex spaces.
READ: Don’t be fooled by Gavin Newsom’s apparent support for keeping ‘trans’ men out of women’s sports
