Sweden: ‘Transwoman’ Calls in the Ombudsman After Women-Only Gym Refuses Him Access
19th November 2025
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.