Planet Fitness of Midland, Michigan is buzzing all over social media. The location is making headlines after a trans-phobic cis-gendered female member complained about a trans woman's use of the locker room.
Yvette Cormier, a member at the Midland location, lost her membership for violating the company’s no judgement zone policy, Fox Carolina reported.
Cormier made a complaint to the front desk because she felt uncomfortable in the women's locker room. Cormier said, "I was stunned and shocked. He looked like a man. He did not look like a woman." Cormier is talking about a transgender woman who walked into the woman's locker room while she was getting undressed.
She did not know why the transgender woman was in the locker room nor confronted her. She went straight to the front desk and ultimately to the corporate offices. Cormier was told that the transgender woman was allowed to be in there as she identifies with being a woman. Cormier said she understands that some men self-identify as women and some women self-identify as men, but said the person looked like a man and that caught her off guard.
Aside from the complaints to the front desk and corporate offices, she was going around to other members making a huge spectacle of her discomfort and the situation resulting in the gym revoking her membership.
A statement released by McCall Gosselin, public relations director for Planet Fitness, states that members can use the locker room corresponding with their personal gender identity.
It seems Cormier feels that she was unjustly revoked from the gym membership, but she longer cares about getting her membership back. She has launched a fight against Planet Fitness and its policy.
Planet Fitness is standing behind its "judgement free" policy and released this statement, "Planet Fitness is committed to creating a non-intimidating, welcoming environment for our members. Our gender identity non-discrimination policy states that members and guests may use all gym facilities based on their sincere self-reported gender identity. In expressing her concerns about the policy, the member in question exhibited behavior that club management deemed inappropriate and disruptive to other members, which is a violation of the membership agreement and as a result her membership was cancelled."
FOX sat down with Char Davenport, someone well known in the transgender community to get her thoughts on the situation. She didn't completely blame Cormier for her actions due to her discomfort,but she's grateful to Planet Fitness for making transgendered persons feel comfortable at the same time. Davenport feels that if gyms want to help the cause, they should be better equipped in the the gym to help in supporting LGBT rights while not imposing on those who may not have a full understanding of the community. "Private showers and changing areas really would go a long way in resolving these issues," Davenport said.
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