Transgender Women Are Being Refused Entry to a “Women’s Only” Festival in Australia

Come on Aussie’s, it’s 2015.

Festival organisers in Peninsula, Australia, have caused serious offence by refusing transgender women entry to their female only festival.

The Seven Sisters Festival advertises itself as the only one of its kind, offering “a select few women” the chance to explore, grow and evolve.

The festival organisers however royally pissed off some women earlier this week when a transgender woman posted on the vent wall asking if the event was inclusive. The response she received has since been deleted but was screenshot and featured on Mashable.

In it Caitlyn Sullivan asks, “Is your festival trans inclusive?” saying that her “attendance or non-attendance” depends on the policy. “I know other people who also feel the same,” she added.

The festival responded pretty insensitively saying that her attendance could destroy the trust of the other women. “As we have advertised the festival as a sacred women’s only space — having individuals onsite who are physically men would be breaking the trust of many women,” they wrote.

The posts sparked a debate on the event page but the organisers have deleted all post pertaining to the issue. They have issues the following statement on the event page.

“Since it’s beginning, Seven Sisters Festival has had a policy of inclusion. We recognise that the identity of ‘woman’ is a unique lived experience to each individual.