Woman membership canceled after complaining about trans member

[Dark Raven]

Lol, that might not work. My company gym has separate stalls, between each personal shower and the communal locker area, but for some reason I'm the only guy who actually uses them. Everybody else comes straight out of the shower, whips off the towel and just lets the whole butcher-shop-at-closing-time-right-before-Christmas hang out there. I'm like two weeks away from becoming completely straight now.

No-one does that here though. I've never seen anyone walking around naked, and there isn't even a communal changing room, so one can only use the stalls anyway. There is a communal locker area though. But I see lots of people of both sexes sometimes walking around with a towel wrapped around them. No-one seems to even bother or notice.

But that could be because it's a swimming pool, and everyone has seen each other already largely in a state of undress, so suddenly throwing a towel around you in place of a swim suit (which is covering the exact same body area) isn't now going to be frowned upon or make people feel uncomfortable.

I think it would be an idea to have that for gym changing rooms too if necessary, at least to solve this kind of situation with the transgender "woman".

 

[Chance Jackson]

I feel like there is a time and a place for everything and the girls locker room is definitely not the place to see a penis which is what I assume happened here cause otherwise how would the complainer know? If that is the case then what? It doesn't seem like there is a solution that works for everyone.

Perhaps some background is in order: I'm a cis gendered male and all the gyms I've ever been too had communal locker room where people change I've never seen stalls in one but if the planet fitness in question has them then the complainer's complaints are invalid

 

[Pink Ranger]

I feel like there is a time and a place for everything and the girls locker room is definitely not the place to see a penis which is what I assume happened here cause otherwise how would the complainer know? If that is the case then what? It doesn't seem like there is a solution that works for everyone.

You can't make that assumption. I'm not saying you might not be right, but you can't make that assumption. Most trans women, especially if they are the earlier stages of their transition, are fairly obvious even when fully clothed. As a culture, gender is the primary filter our brain applies when we see somebody we've never seen before, so it is bound to be noticed.

 

[Feenix]

I think this is really only an issue in North America. Everyone is so obsessed with sex while at the same time being horribly embarrassed by it that they can't see a naked body without freaking out over it.

I doubt anyone in Europe would care if this happened. Maybe I'm wrong and if anyone lives in Europe and could tell me different, I would love to read it.

Being from a German family, I know how Germans feel about sex and nudity and they couldn't care less. My friend walked around topless when I was a visitor in her home. She just shrugged at me. At first I was embarrassed (having grown up in Canada), but after the initial shock, I didn't see a problem with it.

 

[Greens]

I doubt anyone in Europe would care if this happened. Maybe I'm wrong and if anyone lives in Europe and could tell me different, I would love to read it.

Sex and nudity is definitely less of an issue here in Europe, which is apparent in our media. Obviously people still love their privacy so I can't say how an issue like this would shake out in Europe.

 

[JJJ's Ulcer]

I don't even use the changing room. I change at home. You want to know the REAL danger of the locker-room? It's not getting molested, but getting athlete's foot or ringworm or even warts. Sooooo many bacterial skin diseases lurk there…. ugh, ugh, UGH.

But yes, the gym made the right call in cancelling the membership of the homophobic bigot. Why is this even a thread?

 

[Dark Raven]

I don't even use the changing room. I change at home. You want to know the REAL danger of the locker-room? It's not getting molested, but getting athlete's foot or ringworm or even warts. Sooooo many bacterial skin diseases lurk there…. ugh, ugh, UGH.

But yes, the gym made the right call in cancelling the membership of the homophobic bigot. Why is this even a thread?

Who says she was a homophobic bigot? Wasn't her complaint essentially that there was a man in the women's locker room? If a man just decides to walk into the ladies' changing room, does that make the women bigoted for not welcoming him with open arms? Isn't the issue safety and privacy? It almost seems like it's going to the extreme of trying to be overly politically correct.

Maybe there shouldn't even be separate women's or men's changing rooms at all because that would also discriminate against gender.

 

[Farren]

Honestly I'd rather take the chance of some pervert taking advantage of the policy and seeing me naked then have a transgender person be forced to go into a changing room of the opposite gender. And someone upthread said PF has changing stalls, so really it's not an issue.

 

[Feenix]

Who says she was a homophobic bigot? Wasn't her complaint essentially that there was a man in the women's locker room?

That's putting it in the most simplistic of ways.

This woman does not identify as a man and only half of her body is really "male."

I would hate for her to have to go into the men's change room and face the scrutiny there. It's a safety issue for her.

 

[Apollo]

My planet fitness currently only has two bathrooms. Though I used to go to another gym and it had three bathrooms. 1 for men 1 for women and the next one was unisex.

 

[Teelie]

Clearly the solution here is to have changing rooms for every possible combination of sexual orientation and identification. It might be a nightmare in costs but at least then everyone will be in their appropriately segregated places with no chance of anyone possibly being offended.

 

[chamber-music]

I think this is really only an issue in North America. Everyone is so obsessed with sex while at the same time being horribly embarrassed by it that they can't see a naked body without freaking out over it.

I doubt anyone in Europe would care if this happened. Maybe I'm wrong and if anyone lives in Europe and could tell me different, I would love to read it.

Being from a German family, I know how Germans feel about sex and nudity and they couldn't care less. My friend walked around topless when I was a visitor in her home. She just shrugged at me. At first I was embarrassed (having grown up in Canada), but after the initial shock, I didn't see a problem with it.

Generally speaking I think North Americans are more comfortable with violence than Europeans and Europeans are more comfortable with nudity than North Americans.

It is not unusual to see women sunbathing topless in parks or on beaches over here and most people don't bat an eyelid.

 

[warhorse78]

I think this is really only an issue in North America. Everyone is so obsessed with sex while at the same time being horribly embarrassed by it that they can't see a naked body without freaking out over it.

I doubt anyone in Europe would care if this happened. Maybe I'm wrong and if anyone lives in Europe and could tell me different, I would love to read it.

Being from a German family, I know how Germans feel about sex and nudity and they couldn't care less. My friend walked around topless when I was a visitor in her home. She just shrugged at me. At first I was embarrassed (having grown up in Canada), but after the initial shock, I didn't see a problem with it.

Not sure if serious. Weren't there naked pics of Princess Kate swirling around that got her and William all ticked off a while back? Looks to me like nudity and sex is alot more private in Europe than the citizens want to admit.

 

[Feenix]

Not sure if serious. Weren't there naked pics of Princess Kate swirling around that got her and William all ticked off a while back? Looks to me like nudity and sex is alot more private in Europe than the citizens want to admit.

That's because she's royal.

The German newspapers, for instance, have naked women on the front pages for anyone to look at. They're much more liberal with sex and nudity.

 

[Pink Ranger]

The German newspapers, for instance, have naked women on the front pages for anyone to look at.

That Angela Merkel is really out of control now!

 

[HaplessHenchman]

That Angela Merkel is really out of control now!

Thanks for that unwanted vision...

 

[chamber-music]

Not sure if serious. Weren't there naked pics of Princess Kate swirling around that got her and William all ticked off a while back? Looks to me like nudity and sex is alot more private in Europe than the citizens want to admit.

That was more of a privacy issue than a nudity issue. Kate was topless on a balcony at a chateau in Provence and some paparazzi long lensed some photos of her.

As you can imagine Prince William isn't the biggest fan of the paparazzi considering how his mother died.

 

[Apollo]

Some of the people who go to my gym should be banned. The one who keeps peeing on the floor in the bathroom really needs to get the boot. Oh and the people who always drop gum in the urinal and gets stuck on the filter so it never goes down the drain.. they just pile up into some sort of gum urinal mountain.

 

[Dark Raven]

Some of the people who go to my gym should be banned. The one who keeps peeing on the floor in the bathroom really needs to get the boot. Oh and the people who always drop gum in the urinal and gets stuck on the filter so it never goes down the drain.. they just pile up into some sort of gum urinal mountain.

And since we're complaining about people, there was some man at the swimming pool yesterday who deliberately overtook and cut in front of me, and then proceeded to flip onto his back and swim an extremely slow backstroke right in front of me right when I was doing laps so that I had to literally stop because there was no distance between us.

 

[Apollo]

^ Gah! Gym mates can be so rude sometimes!

 

[Anita18]

I'm a woman and I'd be fine seeing a pre-surgery MTF transgender woman in my gym locker room. Like Pink Ranger said, accommodating for transgender people (who DO exist) is more important than protecting ourselves against hypotheticals. And even if they were pre-surgery, if they were serious about it, they would be on hormones and wouldn't be built like (or sound like) a typical man. They aren't simply cross-dressers.

Besides, I wouldn't be afraid of an influx of straight male pervs cross-dressing to get a gander at naked women in a locker room. You know why? Because straight guys are SUPER OBVIOUS when they are checking out women. You think you're being all subtle when you're not.

I don't think he'd get past the door without being caught.

 

[Thundercrack85]

Honestly it would be a bit odd to see a woman in a male locker room, but I think I would get over it.

When it comes to bathrooms, I never saw the issue. That's already awkward for everyone involved.

For women though it's obviously an issue of safety.

 

[Dark Raven]

I'm a woman and I'd be fine seeing a pre-surgery MTF transgender woman in my gym locker room. Like Pink Ranger said, accommodating for transgender people (who DO exist) is more important than protecting ourselves against hypotheticals. And even if they were pre-surgery, if they were serious about it, they would be on hormones and wouldn't be built like (or sound like) a typical man. They aren't simply cross-dressers.

Besides, I wouldn't be afraid of an influx of straight male pervs cross-dressing to get a gander at naked women in a locker room. You know why? Because straight guys are SUPER OBVIOUS when they are checking out women. You think you're being all subtle when you're not.

I don't think he'd get past the door without being caught.

That's why it's best to do it underwater when swimming.

 

[Tempest]

Some of the people who go to my gym should be banned. The one who keeps peeing on the floor in the bathroom really needs to get the boot. Oh and the people who always drop gum in the urinal and gets stuck on the filter so it never goes down the drain.. they just pile up into some sort of gum urinal mountain.

That is a hilarious image, and I thank you for sharing your gross story with us.

On this issue...eh?

In this particular case, Planet Fitness made the right choice. The woman who made the initial complaint sounds like she was just mad that there was a transgender allowed in the locker room.

But if the woman had come forward and explained that she really felt uncomfortable safety-wise, because the woman in the changing room was walking around naked, I think more action can and should be taken to make sure everyone feels safe.

I would like to point out that the idea that someone who is transitioning, or who has transitioned, does not make them less of a threat to the opposite gender. Male-to-female transgenders don't have the surgery that often, and they have the same rate of sexual assault against women as their non-transitioned male counterparts.

For me personally, I don't know if I could handle being in a vulnerable place with a strange person who was flashing their penis around (on the other hand, as long as I didn't have to see them naked, I'd probably be ok), regardless of what gender they are. I would have to leave the changing room, and then I'd be nervous to go back in if they were there. Maybe that makes me horrible, but just thinking about it makes me feel kind of panicky.

 

[Thundercrack85]

I must concede that I don't believe in transgenderism, which apparently is a big deal. Or perhaps I just don't understand it.

I find this whole episode to be rather crazy either way. To me it seems so simple. Facilities for each sex.