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MAFS star slams gender-neutral bathrooms at venue: 'Scare away'
Married At First Sight star Amanda Micallef has called out a bar in Melbourne for having a ‘female and non-binary’ bathroom.
‘Non-binary’ is a term that describes someone who doesn’t identify as either male or female, and also might use the pronouns ‘they/them’.
While trans activists support the inclusion of non-binary and gender-neutral bathrooms in venues, it has become a contentious issue in recent years - especially with right-wing feminists.
Amanda, who made history on the Channel Nine reality series in 2020 as part of the show’s first same-sex couple, took to her Instagram Story to criticise the bar’s decision and express concern.
She asked her followers how they felt about “a man who considers himself non-binary” using the female toilet, adding that she thought it was a “poor move for business”.
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“I mean, that’s how I’m reading this sign?” the 37-year-old OnlyFans star continued.
“Might as well just do gender-neutral toilets and really scare away a lot of people in a child-friendly business.”
JK Rowling’s controversial opinion
JK Rowling, who has been labelled by critics as a trans-exclusionary radical feminist (TERF), is one of the most famous opponents of gender-neutral bathrooms.
In a 3,600-word essay on her website in 2020, the Harry Potter author argued that while she wants trans women to be safe, she doesn’t want to make “natal girls and women less safe”.
“When you throw open the doors of bathrooms and changing rooms to any man who believes or feels he’s a woman… then you open the door to any and all men who wish to come inside. That is the simple truth,” she wrote.
Meanwhile, trans activists argue that gender-neutral bathrooms simply offer a safe option for trans or non-binary people to use.
‘That’s another human being’
In contrast to JK Rowling’s opinion, Harry Potter star and celebrated feminist Emma Watson made headlines earlier this year after an interview with British Vogue from 2019 resurfaced online where she spoke about gender-neutral toilets.
The actress was asked by author and trans activist Paris Lees what she would say to people who have an issue sharing a public bathroom with a trans woman like herself.
“Oh my goodness, I would say…. ‘That’s another human being’,” she replied.
“I understand fearing what you don’t know. I understand kind of being like, ‘I don’t really understand this, I’ve never met someone [trans].’ But go learn, go speak, go look into the whites of someone’s eyes that’s had this experience and tell me after you’ve done that … that there’s any part of you that feels it’s OK to make that person not feel included.”
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