A TRANSGENDER woman wants there to be more gender-neutral toilets in Gwent after claiming she was threatened when visiting her regular pub.

The 25-year-old, who asked to be identified only as Gabrielle, went to The Bird in Hand in Pontllanfraith for a night out on February 16.

The Risca resident said she has been going to the pub for three-and-half years, has been identifying as a woman for more than five years and is awaiting hormone treatment and an operation.

On that night out Gabrielle said she wanted to use the women’s toilets as it makes her feel more comfortable and she is going through the transition from male to female.

She said: “I prefer using the women’s toilets and I went to use them off the top of my head without even thinking it through really.

“I went into the toilets and the bar woman told me to get out and banned me from coming back.”

Gabrielle claims that staff at the venue called her a “pervert” and “mostly hate speech”.

She added: “I was told that because I haven’t had the operation I have no right to use the female toilets. I think that is ridiculous.

“Often as a trans person I am told that I should use a disabled toilet but that isn’t right. Being trans is not a disability.

“It is difficult enough going out dressed. You get called a lot of names and insults. There needs to be more gender neutral toilets.”

A spokeswoman for The Bird in Hand said: “This person was not to use the female toilets because they do not come across as a woman or was dressed as a woman.”

Gwent Police confirmed they had received a call about the incident but said no offences were committed.

A spokeswoman said: “At approximately 12.30am on February 16, 2018, Gwent Police received a report of a transphobic hate incident.

“No offences were committed, however, we have still been able to offer support to the person reporting and signpost to relevant services that may be of assistance.

“Gwent Police does not tolerate hate crime in any form and encourages anyone who has experienced or witnessed an incident or crime that they perceive to be motivated by hostility or prejudice to report to us directly on 101 or 999, online at report-it.org”