Hi there I'm just fixing to start hormones and was wondering of those ladies that use gyms or pools what reaction do you ladies have in locker rooms I know that planet fitness has a no judgement policy however I'm looking for a gym that has a pool but don't know how I will be taken beings that right now I obviously look male beings that I'm just starting hormones if any one can give me any insight I would greatly appreciate it also if your in Tucson maybe any gyms that you know that are trans friendly Ty in advance
Brianna
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The only gym I've tried to join asked me to prove if I had had SRS. Haven't been back.
I would speak with the management (or email them, something I should have done) to get their take and their policy. If your body is still male in appearance you may find using the women's locker room will cause a degree of consternation. But if your body looks too female then the same problem will probably arise from using the male locker room.
I haven't gone to a gym, but I know one day a while back I used the men's restroom and when I came out this guy told me that the women's was the next one over so transitioning can get tricky.
This is one of those horrible passing privilege things. If you're consistently read as female, then change in the female room but, I'd highly recommend you go into a toilet stall or some other place where you cant be seen totally naked (especially by children!). Some places have separate unisex changing rooms for wheelchair users. They can be a good option if you're unsure.
You don't want to become a story in a local newspaper, like this.
https://www.susans.org/forums/index.php/topic,129143.msg1022501.html#msg1022501
DO they have a Family Toilet/Showers. That might be an option. In Perth, Western Australia, the Pool/Gym has family/disabled toilet/showers which can be used.
The thing about 99% of locker rooms, especially where there may be communal nudity...they aren't really MALE/FEMALE or MEN/WOMEN gender segregated, they're essentially PENIS/VAGINA genital segregated. If you're a woman with a penis they're likely to be fairly unhappy about it being exposed no matter how well the rest of you "blends in". Still being shamed for our bodies. :( :(
Quote from: Ms Grace on August 10, 2015, 03:02:26 AM
The thing about 99% of locker rooms, especially where there may be communal nudity...they aren't really MALE/FEMALE or MEN/WOMEN gender segregated, they're essentially PENIS/VAGINA genital segregated. If you're a woman with a penis they're likely to be fairly unhappy about it being exposed no matter how well the rest of you "blends in". Still being shamed for our bodies. :( :(
I'm not disagreeing but, that's the reality of 99% of locker rooms because 99% of human kind have genitals that match their gender presentation.... There's a time and a place for fighting battles to advance transgender rights. A female locker room isn't the best of the options.
Passing is everything when it comes to his. Even though I pass and pass well. I still don't go completely naked in the locker room except in stall because as someone said no matter what they are go to see what is still there at that point and won't be happy about it. As someone said I would check with management. Your probably going to want to find a place with a family restroom/ locker room because in the end they will be more excepting especially in Arizona which was one of the states that tried to pass a bathroom bill. Regardless check ahead with the gym to see what there policy is. Good luck and Hugs
Mariah
QuoteYou're probably going to want to find a place with a family restroom/ locker room because in the end they will be more excepting especially in Arizona which was one of the states that tried to pass a bathroom bill.
^This^. If you're in a conservative culture like in the USA, things could end badly for you. Can you imagine being used as an example by someone to trying to push one of those discrimination bills?
In my experience, I could start using the womens lockers and bathrooms without any issues once it was obvious enough I was a trans-woman and not a crossdresser. I feel that if other women see you are physiologically feminine, they don't have a big issue with it (no obvious giveaways like body/facial hair). Especially once you get some breast tissue going.
Looking at it the other way, at some point it becomes unsafe to use the mens room. I think I passed that point around 6 months HRT.
But like other people said, if you are pre-op, you need to keep yourself covered below.
Most women's locker rooms have at least some private changing stalls, though (and even if they don't, some women will change in the toilet cubicles). So yes, since there are body-shy cis women, it's almost always possible to change in a locker room without flashing genitals. I even managed to take a shower in a locker room while pre-op and with no shower curtain, though I do NOT recommend the terror of that experience! (It was an emergency situation.) It will, of course, depend on gym policy, but for the most part women who blend in well aside from the nether regions can find a private spot to change and all is well.
Pre SRS I never used open plan locker rooms as a courtesy I think to other women. Post op it doesn't bother me.I did have a funny moment with a friend of my partners who we hadn't seen for a long while who we went to a spa complex with wasn't aware that I was post op and she looked somewhat mortified in the changing rooms until she realised that she wasnt getting an eyeful of male genitalia!!
Quote from: Isabelle on August 10, 2015, 03:44:52 AM
^This^. If you're in a conservative culture like in the USA, things could end badly for you. Can you imagine being used as an example by someone to trying to push one of those discrimination bills?
USA is a big place. I have no issues in New York and yes people know I'm trans.