Women's rights campaigners target M&S, Primark and John Lewis in Milton Keynes to provide 'safe single sex spaces'

Women's Rights campaigners in Milton Keynes are going undercover this Christmas to defend their right to single-sex spaces.

Members of the Women’s Rights Network (WRN) are distributing flyers in the city's shopping centre to highlight the rapidly increasing number of businesses and organisations introducing mixed-sex toilets and changing rooms.

The ‘All I want for Christmas is… Single-Sex Spaces’ leaflets claim women and girls are already losing their right to safe spaces away from men and older boys in changing rooms, toilets (including in schools) hospital wards and prisons.

Stores being targeted in the nationwide campaign include Marks & Spencer, Next, John Lewis and Primark — all of whom WRN say allow customers to choose the changing room that they ‘feel most comfortable’ with, not the sex they were born.

"These policies mean that any man who claims to be a woman — even if it’s just for a day — can use ‘female-only’ facilities." said a spokesman for the network.

But Trans campaigners have already hit back and slammed the WRN campaign as spaces, with one activist describing it as both ‘exclusionary’ and ‘defamatory’ to the trans women who use the spaces.

Earlier this month the Mail On Sunday newspaper carried a story highlighting this exact problem. It sent a bearded male reporter into several shops and he told staff he identified as a woman and would like to try on clothes in the women’s changing rooms.

"Staff allowed him to do so – although the reporter made his excuses and left, without ever crossing the threshold," say WRN.

Heather Binning, who is organizing the campaign, said the newspaper’s findings were "truly disturbing" and showed that "common sense has gone out of the window".

She said: "We believe everyone has the right to identify as they wish, but that should not extend to allowing men who say they are women into female changing rooms, toilets, hospital wards or prisons.

"There is an assumption that ‘transwomen’ — men who would like to be women — have undergone genital surgery, but most are fully functioning men. Some only claim to be female whenever they ‘feel’ like it”.

"Once people understand what “inclusion” really means many are understandably unhappy about what is happening — that’s why the WRN is campaigning to raise awareness. Policies which force women and children to share single-sex spaces are unfair and dangerous.”

However, critics of the campaign have said their facts are inaccurate and are not being given in their complete context.

One Twitter user said:" It would mean IDing or checking the genitalia of every person who uses a female toilet/changing room based solely on their appearance. It would not only be trans people affected by such a policy.”

Another trans woman stated: "We are women. Are we not allowed access to safe spaces too?”.

YouGov research shows that 26 per cent of people surveyed believe a male-bodied person self-identifying as female should have access to female changing rooms.

Heather said: ‘We hope our ‘All I Want For Christmas’ campaign will increase awareness and trigger important conversations and questions."