Witch Fever describe Download Festival’s trans toilet access policy as “a complete fuckin’ tragedy”

Witch Fever have joined those voicing their opposition to Download Festival’s apparent policy regarding toilet access for trans fans.

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Earlier today (May 27), artists NOAHFINNCE and Pinkshift hit out at the rock and metal festival for upholding a policy that prohibits trans women from using women’s bathrooms and trans men from using men’s facilities.

Pop-punk singer-songwriter NOAHFINNCE shared a screenshot that seemed to come from an email query to Download, showing the festival saying: “We are proud of the reputation the Download community has in terms of diversity, and will always look to promote the safety and comfort of all festival attendees including transgender and non-binary customers.

“We will be following the interim guidance issued by the Equalities and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) on 25 April 2025 here. Their guidance states that ‘trans women (biological men) should not be permitted to use the women’s facilities and trans men (biological women) should not be permitted to use the men’s facilities’”.

Hey @DownloadFest what the fuck are you doing. How have you got the gall to invite trans people like me to play your festival and then ban them from using the toilet? If the only way we can piss is by outing ourselves then you’ve created an unsafe environment… pic.twitter.com/W0oLIa5P4U

— NOAHFINNCE (@noahfinnadams) May 27, 2025

NOAHFINNCE responded: “Hey @downloadfest what the fuck are you doing inviting trans people to play your festival but not allowing them the simple right of using the correct bathroom?”

“I had a great time playing last year but will not be attending again if I have to queue up for the ladies’ bathroom and my trans sisters have to risk outing themselves in the men’s bathroom. All this does is put trans people in danger,” he added. “If you’re playing @downloadfest, attending it or even just aware of it, say something about it.”

Now, Manchester band Witch Fever have also criticised Download. On their Instagram Stories on Tuesday, the band responded to the question: “Have you read the Download Festivals policy regarding trans fans toilet access?”

They replied: “The threat to trans people’s safety by forcing them to enter toilets that are assigned to a gender that they don’t associate with is a complete fuckin tragedy. We are hoping this decision gets changed.”

The band have been consistently outspoken on behalf of the rights of transgender and non-binary groups, and they played at Download Festival in 2023.

In 2022, bassist Alex Thompson told NME: “Empowerment is always going to be at the core of anything we do, because that’s why we do this. We wanna show people – especially women and gender non-conforming people – that you can express yourself in the way you’ve been told your whole life you shouldn’t – and there’s a power and positivity to doing that.”

NME has reached out to Download’s organisers for comment regarding the policy.

The policy outlined by Download organisers appears to relate to the UK Supreme Court ruling on April 16, in which judges unanimously ruled that the legal definition of a woman is based on biological sex under the Equality Act.

As outlined by the Equality Human Rights Commission, the April ruling from the Supreme Court means that, in places open to the public, trans women shouldn’t use women’s facilities such as toilets.

BBC later reported that over 1,000 cultural figures then signed an open letter which claimed that the ruling “overlooks the need to protect trans, non-binary and intersex people from discrimination”. It also added that many leaders across the UK’s cultural sector were “unwilling” to police which toilets people choose to use.

Charli XCX, Self Esteem and Wolf Alice are among the many artists to have also signed an open letter of solidarity to the trans community from the UK music industry. On top of that, numerous figures in the entertainment world expressed their support for those affected. Those who have spoken out in support of the trans community include Scissor Sisters, Perfume Genius, Garbage, Rachel Chinouriri, JADE, Lambrini Girls and Billy Bragg.

This year’s Download Festival takes place at Donington Park, Leicestershire from June 13-15. Green Day, Sleep Token and KoRn will all be first-time headliners, and other names on the bill include Weezer, Sex Pistols featuring Frank Carter, Jimmy Eat World and Poppy.

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