Topshop ABOLISHES women-only changing rooms in favour of gender neutral spaces after pressure from transgender customers  

• Travis Alabanza of London was denied access to Topshop female changing room
• Took to Twitter to complain, saying it puts trans people at risk of harassment
• One follower posted confirmation Topshop has recently changed its policy  
• Topshop confirmed to MailOnline its changing rooms are open to all customers 

Topshop has quietly changed its policy on men and women-only changing rooms, after growing pressure from transgender customers. 

The change was brought to light by London-based performance artist and writer Travis Alabanza who tweeted Topshop to complain after being denied access to a female changing room at its Manchester store.

A follower named Reg then posted an email from Topshop from July, saying the store would be reviewing its changing room policy, and another email posted by Ferntree indicated the change has indeed occurred.  

The communication from Arcadia read: 'As part of our commitment to equal opportunities and non-discrimination, we felt our policy needed updating. 

'Though typically located in specific product areas such as Topshop or Topman, our fitting rooms are now available for all customers to use. 

'This has been communicated across the chain.'

A spokesperson for Topshop confirmed to MailOnline: 'All TOPSHOP TOPMAN customers are free to use any of the fitting rooms located within our stores.'

Despite the change in policy, Travis was unable to access the female changing room at a store in Manchester earlier this week. 

They tweeted Topshop to say that gender-specific changing rooms are 'dated and dangerous' and put 'queer and trans shoppers at risk from harassment from other shoppers'.

'Who made you in charge of deciding who is woman enough to use your changing room? You just lost an easy sale and money,' they added. 

Travis received an outpouring support from other Topshop customers who said they had also complained to the chain after being discriminated against.  

However, not everyone agreed with the change of policy with one raising concerns that it could make Topshop's target market - teenage girls - feel uncomfortable.

But Travis argued that Urban Outfitters is already successfully leading the way with changing rooms open to all genders. 

And others argued that if retailers do not provide changing rooms specifically for transgender customers, then they must let them decide where they feel most comfortable trying on clothes.