Lesbian members bar will only admit biological women

Jenny Watson said the backlash to her ‘female-only’ stance for speed-dating nights led to them being refused by venue owners

A feminist campaigner is to open Britain’s first lesbian members bar that will only allow biological women to join.

The bar, named the L Community, is due to open in London later this year and will operate as a private members club so that it can bar trans women from signing up.

The bar has been set up by Jenny Watson, who in September last year was at the centre of a transphobia row after she insisted only “adult human females” could attend the lesbian speed-dating events she had organised, and urged men to stay away.

Ms Watson, 32, had posted on her website for the College Arms dating night in the capital at the time: “If you are male, please refrain from coming to the events, you are not a lesbian.”

She previously claimed one person had turned up to an event she ran “sporting a purple latex outfit and an erection”. She also claimed a trans woman had entered the female toilets and “pushed their body at a woman” who became “upset”.

Ms Watson, a town planner, said the backlash to her “female-only” stance for her speed-dating nights led to them being widely refused by venue owners over fears of being labelled transphobic.

“No one will take bookings for my events any more,” Ms Watson said.

“The trans activists are constantly targeting the events, so venues don’t want anything to do with them.

“But I thought I’m not going to put up with this. I’m going to fix it.

“We should have a right to our own space – hence the idea to set up the bar. It will be for biological females only and this is why we’re making it a members-only club so we can legally restrict it to women.”

Women-only spaces

The bar will continue to provide speed-dating sessions, as well as open mic shows, live music performances and a book club.

Ms Watson rejected the suggestion that her bar policy was transphobic and said she was instead trying to create a women-only space.

Ms Watson added that there were currently just two lesbian-only bars in the UK, which are in London and Manchester, and that both welcomed trans women.

“So in effect, we have zero lesbian bars in a country of almost 70 million,” she claimed. “I’m going to give it my all to change that.”

While trans campaigners have criticised the move from Ms Watson, she has gained support from Professor Kathleen Stock, a lesbian academic who recently co-founded The Lesbian Project, an organisation focused on same-sex attracted females.

Prof Stock said: “Lesbians have a right to freedom of association like everyone else.

“Running a female-only bar, available for those that want to use it, doesn’t stop people who prefer mixed-sex spaces from going elsewhere.

“This about choice, not transphobia, and lesbians should have that choice. At the moment, they really don’t.”

A spokeswoman for the feminist campaign group Woman’s Place UK, said: “Lesbians and gays have fought for years for the right to be open about their sexuality and to date and marry people of the same sex.

“Sadly, this right is now under attack from a homophobic movement that insists lesbians must not only welcome men into their spaces but treat them as potential sexual partners.

“We deplore this attack on lesbians’ rights and hope we see many more lesbian social spaces that are open only to women.”

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