Dragon’s Den star suggests ‘pervert’ men pretend to be trans to access female spaces
Former Dragon’s Den star Duncan Bannatyne has once again taken to social media to air his anti-trans views. (Stuart C. Wilson/Getty Images for The W)
Former Dragon’s Den star Duncan Bannatyne has once again taken to social media to air his anti-trans views. (Stuart C. Wilson/Getty Images for The W)
Former Dragon’s Den star Duncan Bannatyne has suggested that “pervert” men are identifying as trans to access female spaces.
The Scottish entrepreneur, whose Bannatyne Group operates around 69 health clubs and 46 spas in the UK, has continued his questionable trans rhetoric, this time sharing a worrying opinion which has become prevalent in recent years.
Bannatyne took to X on Monday (19 January), stoking moral panic in a post shared with his more than 640,000 followers.
He wrote: “Many perverts & pedophiles realize that if they say they now present as female they get easy access to women’s & children’s free spaces. They are not considered true trans people.”
It’s not clear what Bannatyne means by “true trans people”.
As noted in a research project sponsored by ILGA-Europe and Press for Change, the word “pervert” is a term often used to abuse the trans community.
Bannatyne’s comment came during a discussion on X about single-sex facilities. He said on 17 January: “To be clear, if they are men transitioning to women they use the men’s changing rooms.”
In response to someone suggesting a unisex space should be offered, Bannatyne said: “I have offered that to transexuals in some of my gyms but they have refused to use them.”
He said that if “AGP’s were kept out of ladies areas it might help true transgender women”. It appears that in the context of the discussion, “AGP” refers to autogynephilia, the theory that a man may experience sexual arousal over the thought or image of himself as a woman, and often used by ‘gender-critical’ commentators against the trans community.
The narrative that trans women harm biological women and girls has been weaponised by many online, including by politicians, with Republican Majorie Taylor Green previously claiming that trans women were “men, who are really a bunch of perverts” who were “in your locker room and your bathroom because….they want to have sex with you”.
However, research shows that allowing bathroom access based on gender identity poses no risk to public safety, but denying this access could harm trans and non-binary individuals and can see them face increased risks when required to use bathrooms according to their sex assigned at birth.
It isn’t the first time Bannatyne has shared negative comments on social media.
In 2020, he repeated a selection of claims about trans women on social media and stated that he would keep trans women out of changing rooms at his health clubs.
Last year, he said he would remove the non-binary gender option from his gym chain app “as soon as possible”.
PinkNews has contacted a representative for Bannatyne for comment.
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