So, the craziness continues for the company of Planet Fitness. As a short recap of Part 1, Has Gym Policies Gone Too Far? a male, identifying as a transgender female, went into the Planet Fitness female locker room. He began shaving in front of all the women. One of the women, Patricia Silva in Fairbanks, Alaska, took a picture of the person to show the Planet Fitness staff what was happening. She asked the staff why this person was allowed in the women’s locker room with girls as young as thirteen years old. Planet Fitness’s response was to revoke Patrica’s membership for taking a photo inside the locker room, which was breaking one of the membership rules. The incident of the transgender woman was never addressed. Planet Fitness denied it ever happened even after the video went viral and their stock began to drop.
Planet Fitness’s policies have addressed this incident specifically stating:
“Some members may feel uncomfortable with a transgender member using the same locker room facilities, bathrooms, showers, or other facilities/programs separated by sex. This discomfort is not a reason to deny access to the transgender member. Planet Fitness staff should work with the members and employees to address the discomfort and to foster a climate of understanding consistent with the judgement free character of Planet Fitness.” According to MSN.com.
“Planet Fitness does not tolerate discrimination or harassment of any person on its premises on the basis of race, national origin, ancestry, color, creed, religion, sex sexual orientation, gender, gender identity, age, disability, or any other basis protected by law. All members will have access to restroom and locker room facilities that correspond to their self-reported gender identity to the extent permitted by applicable laws.” According to www.snopes.com.
Apparently, it did not end there. There was another similar incident that allegedly occurred at a Planet Fitness in North Carolina. As reported by www.msn.com, a 38-year-old male, Christopher Miller, entered the woman’s locker room and took off all his clothes (completely naked). He claimed to identify as a woman. Christopher Miller also allegedly asked a 17-year-old female gym member to lather lotion all over him and take a shower with him.
Several women called 911 to report the incident. When the police arrived, Christopher Miller was arrested on a charge of indecent exposure and was booked at the Gaston County jail. Oddly enough, his online inmate booking entry identifies him as a male. Miller’s booking photo showed the suspect with a light brown mustache and beard.
According to WSOC-TV, a police dispatcher was told by the 911 caller, “It’s a man but he says he identifies as a woman, and he won’t leave the restroom. But he is walking around showing us his (redacted) and he won’t leave.” “He is completely naked.”
Have we, as a society, become so transfixed on identity politics that we forget about the protection and rights of everyone else? Most people believed incidents like this would never happen?
The founder of Planet Fitness, Michael Grondahl told WKRC that “right wing X users on TikTok” has pretty much destroyed the company. He said, “Planet Fitness was like another child for me. And I put my heart and soul into building that company and it’s been pretty much destroyed in, you know, it’s lost all respect within the country within the last couple of weeks. There’s no common sense behind it.” In 2012, Grondahl sold Planet Fitness to a private equity company. He also didn’t stand behind the new policies. He has literally watched his company crumble.
According to Google Trends, these continuing incidents by Planet Fitness have led to a 2,800% surge in queries “How do I cancel my Planet Fitness membership on app?” Apparently, it has been reported that it is extremely hard to cancel your Planet Fitness membership. This is because you cannot do it over the phone, and you must go into Planet Fitness location where you originally got your membership in person. Then you must tell them why you are canceling it. Of course, if you tell them that you are canceling because of the transgender incidents, they will say they can’t write that down on the cancellation form.
Biological women, that is women born with (XX) chromosomes should be able to feel safe in designated areas, like women’s restrooms. Further boycotting of these “woke” companies will hopefully make the necessary changes our society needs. For now, all we can do is get the information out there and help spread the news, raising people’s awareness.
