A recent case in Sweden has posed the question of whether someone born male who identifies as a woman should have access to a women-only gym.
A key issue is whether such requests can coexist with the safety and privacy needs of women who rely on female-only spaces.
The incident took place at Tjejernas Athena, a women’s gym in Norrköping that has operated for 40 years and has only one changing room. In December 2023, a so-called transgender woman—born male but living socially as a woman and undergoing hormone treatment—asked to join the gym. He had not undergone genital surgery, according to information the gym received at the time.
The applicant stated to the Discrimination Ombudsman (DO) that he sees himself as a woman and therefore wished to train in an environment intended exclusively for women. His complaint implied a desire for social recognition as female in all aspects of public life, including access to women-only facilities.
The gym, however, maintained that membership required anyone using the changing room to “look like a woman when they take off their clothes.” Staff emphasised that many clients rely on the space precisely because it excludes ‘biological males’ (i.e. men)
Some gym members are survivors of violence or trauma, while others come from war-torn regions or follow religious traditions that permit them to be uncovered only in the presence of women. For these groups, Athena is one of the few places where they can safely change clothes and exercise without covering themselves.
While the DO ultimately ruled that the gym’s refusal constituted indirect discrimination—because ‘trans women’ as a group are more likely to be excluded by appearance-based rules—it also acknowledged that the gym’s purpose of offering a strictly female environment is legitimate under Swedish law.
According to the DO, the key issue was not the gym’s women-only status, but the lack of alternative arrangements before denying entry outright.
While the DO has now closed the case, the wider debate over identity, safety, and sex-segregated facilities continues across Sweden.
