Mich. GOPer: Planet Fitness Policy On Trans Members Is ‘Anti-Woman’

FILE - In this Sept. 24, 2011 file photo, Michigan U.S. Senate candidate Gary Glenn meets with attendees at the Republican Leadership Conference at the Grand Hotel on Mackinac Island, Mich. Tea party activists in Mic... FILE - In this Sept. 24, 2011 file photo, Michigan U.S. Senate candidate Gary Glenn meets with attendees at the Republican Leadership Conference at the Grand Hotel on Mackinac Island, Mich. Tea party activists in Michigan are trying to copy a move in Indiana to coalesce behind one of the eight Republicans running for the chance to unseat Democratic U.S. Sen. Debbie Stabenow. But former U.S. Rep. Pete Hoekstra fears the contest is already rigged in favor of one of his rivals and plans to skip a Saturday, Jan. 14, 2012, Senate debate with tea partiers at Central Michigan University. Hoekstra, who served in Congress for 18 years before unsuccessfully running for governor last year, has been targeted by candidates Clark Durant, Glenn and others as not being conservative enough to get tea party backing. They don't like that he voted for the Troubled Asset Relief Program that bailed out banks or to raise the federal debt limit. The internal politics could hurt the GOP's chances of denying Stabenow a third term. (AP Photo/Carlos Osorio, File) MORE LESS
Start your day with TPM.
Sign up for the Morning Memo newsletter

A Michigan lawmaker believes that Planet Fitness’ policy allowing trans members to use the locker room that corresponds with their gender identity threatens the safety of women, MLive reported on Monday.

Republican state Rep. Gary Glenn (pictured above) told MLive that the policy “violates the privacy, comfort and peace of mind of women.”

A Midland, Mich. Planet Fitness gym last week terminated the membership of a female member who complained that the gym allowed a trans woman to use the women’s locker room.

A Planet Fitness spokesperson, McCall Gosselin, said the gym allows trans individuals to choose which locker room they use in order to create a “non-intimidating, welcoming environment for our members.”

But Glenn, who represents Midland in the Michigan house, said it is an “in-your-face policy.”

“Planet Fitness obviously should rethink its anti-woman, anti-reality policy,” he told MLive. “If they don’t, they shouldn’t be surprised in a conservative family-friendly community such as Midland if they lose more female members.”

He added that his wife will no longer maintain her membership at Planet Fitness.

“My wife has been a member at the Planet Fitness in Midland,” Glenn said. “As she characterized the situation, Planet Fitness has made clear it does not offer a family friendly environment, and she said she will not be going back, and I imagine they’ll lose other customers as well.”

H/t Raw Story

Latest Livewire

Notable Replies

  1. Yes, because clearly his wife is the victim in all of this. That makes him a victim. And by extension, all conservatives are victims. The one transgender person who merely wanted to use the changing room they wanted is the evil bully.

  2. “…threatens the safety of women…”

    Wha…?

  3. There’s a T-shirt thrown in with membership. That was the draw, not just the ability to look at lady parts.

  4. I’m sure there’s a lot more to the story than what has been reported, but the woman who filed the complaint says that she saw what appeared to be a man in the women’s locker room. She was uncomfortable with that and it makes sense.

    If Planet Fitness’ policy is that anyone should use whichever locker room they prefer to use then yes, women are potentially in danger. At some point, the business does need to distinguish between transgendered members who are choosing to use the locker room with which they best identify and those men who simply want to use the women’s locker room because that’s where the women are.

  5. As someone who spends a few hours a week in a women’s locker room, I know what what I’d do if I saw someone who was clearly a man, and not a transgender man getting showered and dressed nearby.

Continue the discussion at forums.talkingpointsmemo.com

46 more replies

Participants

Avatar for system1 Avatar for fess Avatar for estamm Avatar for littlegirlblue Avatar for charliee Avatar for darrius Avatar for artemisia Avatar for leftflank Avatar for avattoir Avatar for wwss Avatar for inlabsitrust Avatar for sniffit Avatar for johnscotus Avatar for khaaannn Avatar for jinnj Avatar for jinmichigan

Continue Discussion
Masthead Masthead
Founder & Editor-in-Chief:
Executive Editor:
Managing Editor:
Deputy Editor:
Editor at Large:
General Counsel:
Publisher:
Head of Product:
Director of Technology:
Associate Publisher:
Front End Developer:
Senior Designer: