Obtain Competition’s Rest room Coverage Sparks Debate

The Download Festival has posted an announcement after some controversy arose over the accessibility of loos for transgendered followers and artists on the 2025 music weekend.

The difficulty began to garner momentum on social media when musician Noah Finnce introduced consideration to the competition’s adoption of presidency tips.

“We might be following the interim steering issued by the Equalities and Human Rights Fee (EHRC) on 25 April 2025 right here,” shared the competition. Their steering states that “trans girls (organic males) shouldn’t be permitted to make use of the ladies’s amenities and trans males (organic girls) shouldn’t be permitted to make use of the lads’s amenities.”

Finnce posted a display shot of the rule of thumb shared from an electronic mail enquiry and posed the remark, “Hey @DownloadFest what the fuck are you doing inviting trans folks to play your competition however not permitting them the easy proper of utilizing the right lavatory. I had a good time taking part in final 12 months however is not going to be attending once more if I’ve to queue up for the women lavatory and my trans sisters need to danger outing themselves within the males’s lavatory. All this does is put trans folks at risk.”

Finnce additionally commented, “How have you ever received the gall to ask trans folks like me to play your competition after which ban them from utilizing the bathroom? If the one approach we are able to piss is by outing ourselves you then’ve created an unsafe setting…”

That led to different artists talking out as properly. Pinkshift added that the foundations have been “crazy and so unsafe.” Witchfever additionally commented that it might be “a threat to trans people’s safety.”

What Obtain Competition Is Saying About Their Rest room Coverage

After the dialogue began to unfold throughout social media, Obtain Competition issued an announcement clarifying their stance on restrooms for the 2025 occasion. “We stand with all members of our group and need everybody to really feel secure, supported and welcome at Obtain,” the festival’s social media account commented earlier than sharing a broader assertion on the matter.

READ MORE: Who Are President – the Mystery Band Added to Download 2025?

The assertion reads as follows:

On the coronary heart of Obtain is acceptance – we stand with all members of our group and need everybody to really feel secure, supported and welcome on the competition.

We wish to reassure all of our prospects that at Obtain, nearly all of bathrooms might be gender impartial and accessible to all. There will even be single intercourse bathrooms offered. Obtain Competition has at all times been and stays for everybody.

We sincerely apologise {that a} earlier communication on this was not clear. We’re trying ahead to seeing you at Obtain this 12 months.

Within the feedback on the Obtain put up, there are commenters stating that the organizers nonetheless have not put aside trans exclusionary insurance policies or state whether or not or not they’re implementing EHRC tips or not, whereas others felt the assertion was clear sufficient.

The 2025 version of the Download Festival is ready for June 13-15 at Donington Park within the U.Ok. This 12 months’s occasion options Korn, Sleep Token, Inexperienced Day, Weezer, Shinedown, Bullet for My Valentine, Intercourse Pistols that includes Frank Carter, Spiritbox and extra.