Planet Fitness Revokes Woman's Membership After Transgender Complaint
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(CNN)A Michigan woman lost her Planet Fitness membership over the "inappropriate" manner in which she complained about a transgender woman in the locker room, a gym spokeswoman said.
Yvette Cormier's membership was not canceled for simply raising the issue, "as we welcome all feedback from our members," said McCall Gosselin, director of public relations at Planet Fitness Corporate.
Rather, it was the manner in which she expressed her concerns that club management felt was inappropriate, resulting in the cancellation, Gosselin said.
Cormier stands by her actions in a case that has drawn attention to transgender rights.
"This is all new to me. I didn't go out to specifically bash a transgender person that day. I was taken aback by the situation," Cormier told CNN. "This is about me and how I felt unsafe. I should feel safe in there."
The mother of two says she was acting out of concern for her safety and the privacy of other female gym members when she raised the issue on Saturday, February 28.
She went to the front desk after someone who looked like a "man" entered the women's locker room while she was changing.
"I wanted to know why there was a man in the women's locker room," she told CNN. "He looked like a man, and that's what stopped me in my tracks."
She said the front desk employee told her about Planet Fitness' "no-judgment" policy, which allows people to use changing room based on "their sincere, self-reported gender identity."
Unsatisfied, she said she called Planet Fitness' corporate headquarters and heard the same thing.
"That should be something they pointed out when I signed up," she said.
"If you have male parts you don't need to be in the women's locker room. I don't care what you are; I don't care if you're ? lesbian, transgender or transvestite. I am uncomfortable with you as a male in my locker room, in my restroom."
She returned to the gym Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday "to get the word out" to other women that they "let men in the women's locker room," she said.
"Every day I said 'just so you know, there's a man they allow in this locker room and they don't tell you that when you sign up,' " she said.
The next day, she found out that her membership had been canceled.
Cormier said Planet Fitness needs to do a better job of informing members of its policy allowing members to use whichever locker room corresponds with their gender identity, which refers to a person's psychological identification as a man, woman or another gender.
"The manner in which this member expressed her concerns about the policy exhibited behavior that management at the Midland club deemed inappropriate and disruptive to other members, which is a violation of the membership agreement and as a result her membership was canceled," Gosselin said in a statement on behalf of Planet Fitness.
"Planet Fitness is committed to creating a nonintimidating, welcoming environment for our members. Our gender identity nondiscrimination policy states that members and guests may use all gym facilities based on their sincere self-reported gender identity."
LGBT advocates applauded the Planet Fitness policy, saying it was necessary to ensuring the safety and privacy of transgender individuals.
Planet Fitness has the right to allow members to use whichever locker room corresponds with their gender identity, Alison Gill, senior legislative council for the Human Rights Campaign, told MLive.
Even though gender identity is not a protected class under Michigan anti-discrimination laws, transgender individuals still have the right to use whichever bathroom they feel comfortable using, attorney Jay Kaplan with the ACLU of Michigan's LGBT Project told MLive.
"A transgender woman would be much more at risk for her safety if she had to use the men's bathroom," he said.
Cormier does not see it that way. But she agrees with LGBT advocates on one potential solution: unisex, single-stall bathrooms.
Yvette Cormier's membership was not canceled for simply raising the issue, "as we welcome all feedback from our members," said McCall Gosselin, director of public relations at Planet Fitness Corporate.
Rather, it was the manner in which she expressed her concerns that club management felt was inappropriate, resulting in the cancellation, Gosselin said.
Cormier stands by her actions in a case that has drawn attention to transgender rights.
"This is all new to me. I didn't go out to specifically bash a transgender person that day. I was taken aback by the situation," Cormier told CNN. "This is about me and how I felt unsafe. I should feel safe in there."
The mother of two says she was acting out of concern for her safety and the privacy of other female gym members when she raised the issue on Saturday, February 28.
She went to the front desk after someone who looked like a "man" entered the women's locker room while she was changing.
"I wanted to know why there was a man in the women's locker room," she told CNN. "He looked like a man, and that's what stopped me in my tracks."
She said the front desk employee told her about Planet Fitness' "no-judgment" policy, which allows people to use changing room based on "their sincere, self-reported gender identity."
Unsatisfied, she said she called Planet Fitness' corporate headquarters and heard the same thing.
"That should be something they pointed out when I signed up," she said.
"If you have male parts you don't need to be in the women's locker room. I don't care what you are; I don't care if you're ? lesbian, transgender or transvestite. I am uncomfortable with you as a male in my locker room, in my restroom."
She returned to the gym Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday "to get the word out" to other women that they "let men in the women's locker room," she said.
"Every day I said 'just so you know, there's a man they allow in this locker room and they don't tell you that when you sign up,' " she said.
The next day, she found out that her membership had been canceled.
Cormier said Planet Fitness needs to do a better job of informing members of its policy allowing members to use whichever locker room corresponds with their gender identity, which refers to a person's psychological identification as a man, woman or another gender.
"The manner in which this member expressed her concerns about the policy exhibited behavior that management at the Midland club deemed inappropriate and disruptive to other members, which is a violation of the membership agreement and as a result her membership was canceled," Gosselin said in a statement on behalf of Planet Fitness.
"Planet Fitness is committed to creating a nonintimidating, welcoming environment for our members. Our gender identity nondiscrimination policy states that members and guests may use all gym facilities based on their sincere self-reported gender identity."
LGBT advocates applauded the Planet Fitness policy, saying it was necessary to ensuring the safety and privacy of transgender individuals.
Planet Fitness has the right to allow members to use whichever locker room corresponds with their gender identity, Alison Gill, senior legislative council for the Human Rights Campaign, told MLive.
Even though gender identity is not a protected class under Michigan anti-discrimination laws, transgender individuals still have the right to use whichever bathroom they feel comfortable using, attorney Jay Kaplan with the ACLU of Michigan's LGBT Project told MLive.
"A transgender woman would be much more at risk for her safety if she had to use the men's bathroom," he said.
Cormier does not see it that way. But she agrees with LGBT advocates on one potential solution: unisex, single-stall bathrooms.
Comments
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Transgender rights? Alright this rights ? has gone a little too far now. ? want rights because they decided to become women?
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Make special restrooms. Men, women, and however you're feeling rooms.
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This is some stupid ? . Self identified gender? If you a man then you a man. Deal with it. Black people have to deal with being discriminated against because of who we are. These ? chose to be something other then what they are. They ain't even comfortable in their own skin and instead of addressing that, we start coming up with some ? rights for people who want the right to not be themselves?
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Lol
Ppl actually workout their
? that place as a whole.
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playmaker88 wrote: »
Well I don't see your suggestion.
Gonna see more and more of these types of stories. -
playmaker88 wrote: »
Well I don't see your suggestion.
Gonna see more and more of these types of stories.
Make these ? use the ? restroom and stop tryin to make special accommodations for these weak ass ? who hate the person they are to begin with. -
So a ? can just put a wig on and walk in the women's locker room at planet fitness? Interesting
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playmaker88 wrote: »
Well I don't see your suggestion.
Gonna see more and more of these types of stories.
use the bathroom at home. -
I just became a member at pf. They got mad when, at 6am on a Saturday, I brought a gallon jug.
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TheEyeronic1 wrote: »Shizlansky wrote: »Lol
Ppl actually workout their
? that place as a whole.
its $10 a month.
thats a steal for most.Young_Chitlin wrote: »I just became a member at pf. They got mad when, at 6am on a Saturday, I brought a gallon jug.
To many ? rules -
lol planet fitness is so ? and backwards, with their purple machines and free pizza once a month. Literally a stack of pizzas the first Monday of every monthit's cheap af though so I'm on my way right now
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this is what you get when you accept any kind of faggotness into society all you so called straight people who support ? rights should have to share a locker room with ? trannies
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alright I'm in this ? Purple Fitness. After my workout I'm about to stroll into the women's locker room and do it for the creepset. Anyone tries to stop me I'm gonna threaten to bring the ACLU down on them
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Planet fitness made a prudent decision. If they had terminated the transgender's account. The ? community would have got at them.
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Planet fitness lost they damn minds
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Don't Planet Fitness got an alarm that go off if you workin' out too loud?
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? that ? , because she did,t get her way she needs to cause a big scene about it.
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I hope somebody sues that ? ass place.
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So a ? can just put a wig on and walk in the women's locker room at planet fitness? Interesting
I thought it's the other way around...that basically the policy allows for men with wigs to walk in the men's locker room. Which would be thr opposite of interesting. -
planet fitness has tanning, massage chairs, and uv light stimulation and a lot of fat people on treadmills not losing weight complaining about how they keep getting disconnected from the internet. ? disgusting.
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Transgender Woman At Center Of Planet Fitness Controversy Defends Right To Use Female Bathroom
“I was stunned and shocked,” Yvette Cormier told WNEM of seeing the transgender woman in the locker room. “He looked like a man ... He did not look like a woman.”
(Yvette Cormier)
Now, Carlotta Sklodowska, the transgender woman at the center of controversy, says she was only at the gym as the guest of a friend that day and had used the locker room twice – once to store her belongings, and a second time to retrieve them.
“I'm not actually a member," Sklodowska told Michigan Live. "I was there as a guest of one of my friends.”
(Carlotta Sklodowska)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gb0NeVX0aW8 -
put that ? ? in a ? spoiler
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lol planet fitness is so ? and backwards, with their purple machines and free pizza once a month. Literally a stack of pizzas the first Monday of every month .it's cheap af though so I'm on my way right now
Bruh that's why I signed up for pf