GERMANY: Women’s Gym Fined €1,000 After Denying Balding Trans-Identified Male Access to Showers

A women-only fitness center in Erlangen, Bavaria, has been ordered by the government to pay compensation to a trans-identified male after the facility’s owner denied him permission to use the women’s showers.

Doris Lange, who has been the owner of the Lady’s First fitness studio for over three decades, received a notice from Ferda Ataman, the Independent Federal Commissioner for Anti-Discrimination, recommending “appropriate compensation” in the form of €1000 to a trans-identified male for the “personal injury suffered” at being rejected from using the women’s showers.

The incident, first reported by NIUS, occurred at the end of March, when a trans-identified male requested the use of the facilities, including the women-only showers. A young staff member who spoke with Holstein, as reported by NIUS, said that “no ID card identifying [Holstein] as a legal woman was presented.”

However, the fitness center scheduled a training session with the man, who continued to insist on using the women’s showers. As a “compromise,” he offered to wear swimming trunks in the area where women would be present in the nude.

When the fitness center’s owner became aware of the situation, Lange instructed staff to prepare a courteous rejection of the man’s request over the phone.

The trans-identified male then sent Lady’s First fitness an email requesting continued access to the facility while promising to avoid using the showers altogether. His offer was denied.

Speaking to NIUS, Lange noted that a significant number of her clients were Muslim females who required a sex-exclusive place to train away from males.

“With all understanding for the lady’s situation, we only have one large training room, one changing room and one shower. 20% of our members are Muslim women. The women come to our studio specifically to train in an environment that is safe for them,” Lange said.

“It looks to my female customers as if I’m letting a man train there – at least as long as this lady is still equipped with male sexual organs.”

On May 16, Lange received a letter from the Federal Anti-Discrimination Agency (ADS), headed by the Federal Ministry for Family Affairs, instructing her to pay the man compensation.

“The facts of the case could be a violation of the AGG (General Equal Treatment Act, editor’s note) in the form of direct discrimination on the grounds of gender,” reads the letter from Ferda Ataman’s office, the Federal Anti-Discrimination Agency (ADS), to Lange.

“The AGG characteristic of gender also protects trans* women. This applies regardless of whether the person concerned has already officially undergone a change of name and civil status and/or gender reassignment measures.”

It continues: “With this in mind, we would ask you to consider what possibilities and starting points exist for an amicable solution to the matter on your part. For example, we would suggest that you pay … appropriate compensation in the amount of 1000 euros for the personal injury she has suffered.”

Dr. Christoph Franke, who is acting as legal representative for Lady’s First fitness, expressed his shock to NIUS that the Federal Anti-Discrimination Commissioner had ordered the fine.

“This is a remarkable case. The Federal Anti-Discrimination Agency is directly integrated into the Federal Ministry for Family Affairs, Senior Citizens, Women and Youth and suggests through the letter that our client is under a sovereign obligation to pay compensation. Not only is this not the task of the Anti-Discrimination Agency, it is also arrogating to itself the powers of the judiciary.”

While the identity of the man in question was withheld by NIUS in accordance with German privacy law, Reduxx will reveal that the trans-identified male involved in the case is Laura Holstein.

As previously reported by Reduxx, Holstein was the first trans-identified male to be approved by the Bavarian Football Association (BFA) to play in a women’s football league.

After being rejected from the fitness club, Holstein submitted a 1-star review of the club in which he complained about being disrespected.

“As a trans woman in particular, I had high hopes for the studio, as they are a studio for women and I therefore hoped to have a respectful atmosphere,” wrote Holstein in his review.

“So I arranged a trial training session and my first impression was very positive. But then I was told on the phone that they couldn’t accept me. When asked what the exact reasons were, there was only an unfriendly answer. Apparently they categorically reject women who don’t fit the concept. I find it very unfortunate,” he continued. “Absolutely not recommended for trans people and their allies.”

Holstein, who is a Master’s Student at the University of Erlangen-Nuremberg, recently made headlines after becoming the first trans-identified male to be accepted into a women’s football league in Bavaria. He was given the ability to participate after Grit Labahn, the head of policy at the Munich BFA headquarters, personally vouched for him.

“I can’t tell people who have a different, non-binary gender identity and want to play football: You were unlucky,” Labahn said. Though there are only male and female categories in German football, the BFA has a “case-by-case” inclusion policy, so Labahn explains she had to argue for Holstein’s right to participate in the women’s league.

Labahn said that an opening had emerged in the club after a trans-identified female had decided to opt out due to the fact that testosterone was making her too strong to participate with the other women. Labahn then “turned the tables,” arguing that estrogen had caused Holstein to “lose” muscle mass and would have stripped him of a competitive advantage.

While Holstein won’t officially begin playing against opposing women’s teams until the August season, he has begun participating in training sessions, and is sharing the female locker room with the women and girls on the Effeltrich/Hetzles Football Syndicate.

As some players are underage, concerns were raised about Holstein exposing his penis during shower times — an issue the coach attempted to address by providing Holstein a shower schedule.

The coach, Christian Wagner, is also preempting “transphobic” remarks from other players or spectators, and says that anyone who is discriminatory towards Holstein will be immediately banned from the arena.

Holstein reportedly began identifying as a woman after watching The Danish Girl in 2015. The film is based on the life story of Lili Elbe, a trans-identified male who died of complications after his body rejected a uterus implanted into him in 1931. Following the movie, Holstein says he was “touched extremely internally. I questioned what I really feel deep inside.” He then says he “discovered the woman” within himself.

In 2020, Holstein began hormone replacement therapy and laser hair removal. He is set to legally change his sex to “female” in September of this year.

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Genevieve is the Co-Founder of Reduxx, and the outlet's Chief Investigative Journalist with a focused interest in pornography, sexual predators, and fetish subcultures. She is the creator of the podcast Women's Voices, which features news commentary and interviews regarding women's rights.