‘Women Only’ Building to Rent Flats to Trans Tenants

A feminist scheme to build a 15-storey apartment block for single women, particularly “vulnerable” women from ethnic minority backgrounds or those facing domestic abuse, has been given the go-ahead by the Ealing Council in west London this week, the BBC reported.

Under the plans, men would be prohibited from renting apartments in the building, and would only be allowed into the building if they are a child of or are in a relationship with one of the tenants.

While the scheme seems discriminatory against men on its face, there is of course a transgender loophole against the segregation policy: it is 2023, after all. The Women’s Pioneer Housing Association (WPA), which is spearheading the project, has said that the building will be open to anyone who has a “gender recognition certificate legally declaring them female”.

The not-so-female-only building will also be open to transgender people who “intend to undergo, are undergoing or have undergone gender reassignment” as well as ” non-binary people” who meet one of those criteria.