Former MAFS Star Amanda Micallef Rages Against Gender-Neutral Bathrooms

Out lesbian former MAFS star, Amanda Micallef, who was earlier this year charged in a “revenge porn” case, has criticised a Melbourne bar for having inclusive gender neutral bathrooms.

Trigger Warning: This story discusses anti-transcomments, which might be distressing to some readers. For 24 hour crisis support and suicide prevention call Lifeline on 13 11 14. For Australia-wide LGBTQI peer support call QLife on 1800 184 527 or webchat.

Micallef took to Instagram to criticise the Melbourne venue for a bathroom designated for ‘female and non-binary’ people.

“How do we feel about a man who considers himself non-binary walking into a female toilet?” Micallef wrote in an Instagram story alongside a photo of a ‘Female & Non-Binary’ bathroom sign.

“I think it’s a poor move for business. I mean that’s how I’m reading this sign? Might as well just do gender neutral toilets and really scare away a lot of people in a child friendly business”.

Micallef, had faced court in March 2022, after she was charged with distributing intimate images of a woman known to her, without their consent.

Anti-Trans Bathroom Debates

Micallef is not the only public figure to share anti-trans comments over gender neutral bathrooms. JK Rowling, author of the Harry Potter series, wrote an essay in 2020 about it.

Fear generated by anti-trans groups over trans women using the same bathrooms as cis women is misguided and transphobic, say experts.

Often, even the language used in this discourse can be invalidating. For example, Micallef referring to non-binary people assigned male at birth as “a man who considers himself non-binary” or Rowling referring to trans women as a “man who believes or feels he’s a woman” misgenders entire communities.

“Bathroom facilities are a basic right for every person. And we all use bathrooms designed for all genders every day – at home, on planes, in restaurants and so on. It is the gendering of our public infrastructure into a two-part system, with no alternatives, that causes problems,” Professor Christy Newman, a social researcher of health, gender and sexuality at UNSW Sydney, told Star Observer.

Making Public Bathroom Safe For Trans People

“Lots of trans people, including kids, have to make impossible choices between using a public bathroom when they need it, or staying safe from the judgemental and potentially violent gaze of others,” Professor Newman explains.

“Gendering our bathroom facilities also affects many cis people, because many don’t present in ways that fit gender norms. We also end up with queues in one bathroom, and none in the other, which makes no sense.”

Gender neutral bathrooms can be an effective solution to these issues.

“Creating more ‘all gender’ bathrooms avoids all of these problems, particularly if we make clear which specific facilities are available in which area – toilets, urinals, sinks and so on. This makes sure that everyone has access to the facilities they need, when they need it. It’s really quite simple, and it’s wonderful to see so many countries and communities understanding this now,” Professor Newman says.