Gender Issues

There is an article in today's Sydney Morning Herald about McIver Ladies Baths in Coogee. The baths were built in 1886 for the exclusive use of women, but last month a bare-chested man in board shorts demanded to be allowed to use them, on the grounds that he was having hormone therapy with the aim of becoming a woman.

The writer of the article has clearly decided to regard "baths" as singular and, as she's consistent about it, I can't criticise that (although internally I can grumble):

However, to prevent the reader's mind from boggling, punctuation needs to be accurately applied to the quoted sentence in this passage:

I also wonder if the locals aren't a bit eccentric, if they insist that dogs must only sunbathe with tops on:

and is the use of the word "mecca" in this next excerpt highly insensitive or totally culturally "appropriate"? I can't tell:

Despite these quibbles, it's still a great story.