Trans activists are criticizing a move to open a women's only lesbian bar in London that does not allow trans-identified males from attaining membership.
L Community, created by Jenny Watson, is set to open later in the year and will "legally restrict" access to cisgender women only, the Telegraph reports. She made the bar in response to a drop in female only lesbian bars.
Pink News, a left-wing media outlet covering trans activism, attacked the bar in a report and said that the reason for the drop wasn't trans-identified males causing the decline of female-only spaces and placed the blame on rent prices and COVID-19.
Watson has received backlash in the past for trying to host "female-only" speed-dating events which were commonly rejected by venue owners over fears of being labeled as transphobic.
“If you are male, please refrain from coming to the events, you are not a lesbian," she posted on her website for one of the events.
She recounted a time when a trans-identified male showed up at one of the events “sporting a purple latex outfit and an erection” and at one point “pushed their body at a woman” in the women's bathroom.
She said she is "going to give it [her] all" to change the fact that there are no lesbian-exclusive bars in the UK.
“No one will take bookings for my events anymore,” Watson said. "The trans activists are constantly targeting the events, so venues don’t want anything to do with them. But I thought 'I’m not going to put up with this. I’m going to fix it.'
“We should have a right to our own space – hence the idea to set up the bar. It will be for biological females only and this is why we’re making it a members-only club so we can legally restrict it to women.”
A spokesperson from feminist group Woman’s Place UK, said: “Lesbians and gays have fought for years for the right to be open about their sexuality and to date and marry people of the same sex."
“Sadly, this right is now under attack from a homophobic movement that insists lesbians must not only welcome men into their spaces but treat them as potential sexual partners."
“We deplore this attack on lesbians’ rights and hope we see many more lesbian social spaces that are open only to women.”
