Smack Down: Woman Trying to Protect Girl from Male in Planet Fitness' Women's Room Gets Last Laugh
Editor’s Note: Our readers responded strongly to this story when it originally ran; we’re reposting it here in case you missed it.
A woman from Alaska who alerted the world to a man using the women’s changing facilities at her local Planet Fitness outlet has had the last laugh, but not before the company made a hash out of its reply to the controversy.
The latest outrage against women’s-only spaces came to light by the invaluable social media cultural warrior Libs of TikTok in a post about the woman’s shock at finding a middle-aged man who claimed to be “queer” in the women’s bathroom, according to The National Desk.
“Woman in Planet Fitness claims she went into the bathroom and this man who thinks he’s a woman was in there shaving,” Libs of TikTok wrote on March 11.
“Why does Planet Fitness allow men to use the women’s bathroom and invade women’s private spaces??”
In a video, Patricia Silva, the Planet Fitness customer, said, “I just came out of Planet Fitness. There is a man shaving in the women’s bathroom.”
She went on to say that the man told her he “identifies” as “queer,” so apparently felt like using the women’s locker rooms that day.
Silva also said that there was a girl of around 12-years-old in the locker room and that girl looked decidedly uncomfortable.
“I love him in Christ,” Silva said of the individual. “He is a spiritual being having a human experience. He doesn’t like his gender so he wants to be a woman, but I’m not comfortable with him shaving in my bathroom,” Silva added.
WOW. Planet Fitness is standing by their decision to allow men in women’s locker rooms.
Their policies actually allow males in female spaces. They instruct women to just deal with their discomfort and make sure not to misgender the trans person in their locker room.… https://t.co/1fA52PY21Q pic.twitter.com/wl5ZCxMtVs
— Libs of TikTok (@libsoftiktok) March 15, 2024
For its part, Planet Fitness defended its policy of allowing men who pretend to be women to use the women’s changing facilities, bathrooms, and locker rooms.
A spokesman told the media that Planet Fitness is a “Judgement Free Zone,” and has no problem with “transgender” customers invading women’s spaces.
“As the home of the Judgement Free Zone, Planet Fitness is committed to creating an inclusive environment,” the company said in an email to media outlets.
“Our gender identity non-discrimination policy states that members and guests may use the gym facilities that best align with their sincere, self-reported gender identity.”
Silva’s membership was also canceled by Planet Fitness and she is no longer welcome in the facility. The company explained that she broke the company’s “mobile device” rule.
“The member who posted on social media violated our mobile device policy that prohibits taking photos of individuals in the locker room, which resulted in their membership being terminated,” the company added.
According to Just the News, the company has quietly made a subtle change to its “self-identifying” policy, too.
The change comes after a similar incident that occurred last August where a woman found a man inside the women’s locker room at a Planet Fitness in Pennsylvania.
At that time, the company released a statement reading, “All members, including transgender members, may use Planet Fitness locker room facilities, bathrooms, showers, and all other facilities/programs separated by sex based on their self-reported gender identity.”
But as Just the News noted, now there is a subtle change to that line with the addition of the word “sincere.” Now that policy as stated in the more recent messages from the company reads, “guests may use the gym facilities that best align with their sincere, self-reported gender identity.”
Regardless, the now former customer Patricia Silva got the last laugh. She publicly ripped up her membership card and denounced Planet Fitness for not protecting their female customers.
“This morning I got canceled,” Silva said. “Planet Fitness is defending the man in the women’s locker room, the man with a penis, rather than the child sitting in the corner with a towel wrapped around her.”
It’s all just another example that these corporations have more fealty to the radical, gay and “transgender” political agenda than they do to the safety and comfort of their female customers.
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