This piece summarizes a heated exchange between singer Tish Hyman and Congressman Eric Swalwell over men in women’s spaces and the response it drew online.
Tish Hyman confronted Congressman Eric Swalwell at a campaign event and forced him to answer a blunt question about men in women’s spaces. The encounter followed viral footage of an incident at a Gold’s Gym that put the safety of women in locker rooms back in the spotlight. The back-and-forth quickly became a talking point among voters and social media users who worried about policy and enforcement gaps.
Hyman first drew attention when a video showed her speaking up after being harassed by a trans-identified man in a women’s locker room at Gold’s Gym. The footage went viral and spiked concern after reports said the same man had been arrested for physically assaulting his wife. Hyman told Swalwell she had “been harassed, verbally, and assaulted multiple times by men in the women’s locker room in Gold’s Gym in LA.”
She pushed the congressman to square his public comments with what women are experiencing on the ground. Hyman quoted his prior line that men being in women’s locker rooms and sports is “not a thing,” and then asked, “Given what’s happening on the ground in California, will you now acknowledge that it is, in fact, a thing?” Her question drew audible tension from the crowd and put Swalwell on the spot.
Hyman didn’t stop at definition; she pressed him for policy, asking exactly what he would do. She asked, “What would you do to protect women in California from men, including being convicted of violence against women who can self-identfy into any female space under the current law?” That direct phrasing forced the exchange into specifics instead of talking points.
Swalwell turned to his background as a prosecutor in his answer, referencing how he handled cases in the past. He said, “Where justice was warranted and mercy was warranted, I showed it.” He added a firm line about his goals: “I will not be a governor that tolerates violence against women in our state, period,” he continued. “That’s not going to happen. Now, as it relates to the issue of trans kids, particularly in sports, sure I’m going to say harassment, yeah that’s wrong.”
Hyman demanded a yes-or-no response and told him to “Answer straight. Are you against men in women’s locker rooms and sports? That’s all you need to answer.” Swalwell replied with a mix of reassurance and hedging, saying, “I’m going to protect women. I did as a prosecutor. I will protect—no woman should be harassed in any locker. I’m telling you, no woman should be harassed in a locker room. That’s a crime,” he stammered. “I don’t want men harassing you in a women’s locker room. That should not happen.”
Seeing that a plain answer wasn’t coming, Hyman stood up and pressed the point for everyone listening. “It’s happening all over Ameria.” she said, drawing attention to cases beyond a single gym. She went on: “There are 45 men in women’s prisons right now, raping them, picking them out like chickens. But trans men are not women, and they’re raping women. I don’t care if you’re on the Democrat side or the Republican side. We need to be on the women’s side, people. It’s happening to our girls, it’s happening to our women, and I’m here to let everyone know that it’s happening.”
Hyman also posted a separate video on X on November 2 showing the original confrontation at the Gold’s Gym, where another man can be seen yelling at the interloper. That clip added context to her complaints and showed why she felt compelled to speak out publicly about safety. The footage and follow-up posts kept the story active across feeds and message boards.
Online reaction was swift, with many users praising Hyman for standing up for women’s safety in public spaces. She later said Gold’s Gym revoked her membership after she spoke out, and that prompted criticism about how institutions respond to complaints. In an Instagram post she wrote, “multiple women and I have repeatedly made written reports on this man for coming into our women’s locker room harassing us, and the gym staff has done absolutely nothing!!”
The episode forced a raw conversation in public about how laws, policies, and private businesses handle identity and safety in intimate spaces. It also put a spotlight on the political calculus for candidates like Swalwell who must balance civil-rights language with public safety concerns. Voters watching the exchange heard both the personal accounts and the politician’s attempts to reply, and many will judge how persuasive those answers were when they head to the ballot box.
