An 80-year-old woman in Washington state was permanently banned from her local YMCA facility after she complained about a biological male who apparently identifies as a woman in the women’s shower area.
Julie Jaman has lived in Port Townsend for about 40 years and has been swimming at the Mountain View pool for almost as long, according to the Port Townsend Free Press.
While taking a shower at the city facility that’s operated in partnership with the Olympic Peninsula YMCA, Jaman reportedly heard a definite, low male voice and noticed what she said was a male in a woman’s bathing suit.
“The woman had to stand naked in the presence of the male, a YMCA employee, despite her pleas and demands that he leave. She was also very concerned that this male was watching little girls as they peeled off their swimsuits,” the newspaper reported — the employee was later identified as Clementine Adams.
A photo of Adams can be seen here, taken from a GoFundMe account Adams started for bottom surgery, according to Reduxx.
Jaman said Adams was “looking at the little girls as they were taking off their suits,” recalling that there were about four little girls in the room.
“There were gaps in the curtain and there I was, naked, with soap and water on me, and this guy, right there very close to me. I asked, ‘Do you have a penis?’ He said, ‘That’s none of your business.’ That’s when I told him, ‘Get out of here, right now.’”
Seeing the Y’s aquatics manager, Rowen DeLuna, nearby, Jaman called out to her, “Get him out of here.”
“You’re discriminating and you can’t use the pool anymore and I’m calling the police,” DeLuna then told Jaman, according to the Free Press.
While she was instructed to leave, the paper reported that Jaman was “then prohibited from exiting the building.” The elderly woman would leave anyway and report the incident to police.
“They said: You can’t say those things. You’re being a bigot,” Jaman told Reduxx of the Y staff. “They told men males can be women. I said I don’t agree with [your] ideology. I told them that in all my 80 years I had never run into this.”
Wendy Bart, the CEO of the Olympic Peninsula YMCA, stood by the actions of her staff, including the permanent ban. She reportedly spoke with Jaman that same day by phone and the Free Press reported that Bart said a staff member told her that Jaman said to the male in the woman’s swimsuit, “You’re going to stick your f*cking penis in those little girls.”
Jaman adamantly denied the allegation, telling Reduxx: “I am an 80-year-old woman. I do not speak that way!”
The facility released this statement:
The Olympic Peninsula YMCA is an organization that welcomes all people. At the Y, we strive to create communities that are inclusive and socially just so that all people can thrive. We will not tolerate bias, hatred, or discrimination that leads to the oppression of individuals or communities. We will ensure sustained and meaningful progress toward equity and human dignity for all. […]
The Y will uphold and respect this law in regards to YMCA staff, members, and program participants that use Mountain View Pool. At the Y, our goal is to provide an atmosphere free from discrimination, hatred, derogatory or unwelcome comments, intimidation, or actions based on an individual’s sex, age, race, ethnicity, religion, disability, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression or any other legally protected status.
Unless, of course, you are intimidated by biological males in women’s showers.
The organization also pointed out that Washington state law says “entities shall allow individuals the use of gender-segregated facilities, such as restrooms, locker rooms, dressing rooms, and homeless or emergency shelters, that are consistent with that individual’s gender expression or gender identity.”
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Tom Tillison grew up in Maryland before moving to Central Florida as a young teen. It is in the Sunshine State that he honed both his passion for politics and his writing skills. Tillison also contributes to BizPac Review.
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