An Australian traveller in France who complained about a trans woman in a women-only bathroom at her hostel was shocked to be told she had broken the law by raising her concerns.
Cassandra from Melbourne visited the French city of Lyon to watch the women’s football at the Olympic Games on 26 and 27 July.
Cassandra said she booked a female-only dorm with a private bathroom at the Alter Hostel in Lyon through the Hostelworld app and arrived there late at night on July 25.
When he entered his dorm it was dark and everyone was in their beds sleeping, so he didn’t know who his roommates were.
On her first morning, she was shocked to see a trans woman in the bathroom, whom she initially thought was a man. She asked to speak to the director of the shelter.
“I showed my visibly shaking hands as my privacy was being violated in the bathroom,” Cassandra said.
‘His response was: ‘It’s not my problem, it’s not my business.’
‘I said, I paid for a women-only service, can I get my money back?’
Cassandra, a Melbourne woman, complained that there was a trans woman in the designated female toilets at a hostel in France
Cassandra said she showed the shelter manager that her hands were shaking from the encounter.
“The manager said the hostel classified her as a woman. He told me my stance was political and not objective.”
Despite her request to have the conversation in private, Cassandra said it took place within earshot of others in the hotel, including the 20-year-old American trans guest she encountered in the bathroom.
Cassandra wrote to Hostelworld explaining why she was requesting a refund.
They gave him a six-month voucher and promised to follow up with the shelter.
However, the hostel’s response (sent by Hostelworld) accused Cassandra of being wrong.
“This guest was transphobic,” the shelter wrote.
‘What she didn’t mention is that the “man” in the bathroom was a woman (man who became a woman by identifying as a woman, meaning he IS a woman).
‘Her personal opinion on the subject doesn’t matter. In France, it is against the law to be transphobic. She clearly refused to admit that the person was a woman.
‘However, I decided to reimburse her for the last night and kindly accommodate her by finding a hostel that meets her needs (spoiler: absolutely all hostels in Lyon accept trans people).
“This guest is lucky that we have not pressed charges against her. We have no pity for her as we do not tolerate such behaviour.”
In France, discrimination based on “sexual identity” has been banned since 2012. In 2016, the term “sexual identity” was replaced by “gender identity” and the law covers transphobia.