Monday, March 9, 2015

But I am right!




"There was a man in the changing room," stated Yvette Cormier.







Yvette Cormier, 48, was in the ladies locker room in the Planet Fitness gym in Midland Michigan on Feb 28 2015 and states that she saw a man walk in there while she was changing.  She stated that she was stunned and shocked by the man who entered in a baggy t-shirt and workout pants.  She then went to the front desk to complain and it was explained to her that the "man" she spotted was actually a transgender woman and she was allowed to use whichever changing room she was dressed for.  It was explained to Cormier that it is the policy of Planet Fitness to be a no judgement zone but that did not satisfy Cormier.

Carlotta Sklodowska believes that she is the woman that Cormier is so very upset about.  She has stated that she used that particular gym twice as a guest of a friend of hers and that she entered the locker room to leave her coat and purse and retrieve them after her workouts.  Planet Fitness does offer private changing rooms and toilet facilities at the gym but evidently Cormier was not using either of them when Carlotta entered.

She does admit that she looks very mannish as well as stopping to ask at the desk as to what the policy was for the gym with regard to the changing rooms.  She added that she did not observe anyone in the changing area that looked distressed by her being there to leave her items.  Carlotta also stated that she uses public bathrooms without issue and has many straight women friends in Midland that do not have a problem with her being transgender.



Planet Fitness has not rallied around Cormier as she may have hoped they would.  Instead, they cancelled her membership to the gym for violating the no judgement rule.  before you jump to a conclusion that they have just done her a grave injustice, you should probably understand the lengths that Cormier has gone through to air her complaint.

Cormier complained repeatedly to the front desk about how upset she was by the very idea that a transgender person could be allowed to use the same changing area that she was using as a woman.  When that did not work, she took her complaint to the corporate level and again was rebuffed in her need for her outrage to be understood.  Finally, after that went nowhere, she went back to gym several times and told every woman she could find about the outrageous rules that allowed a man to be in the woman's locker room.  It was after this that her membership was cancelled.

The latest reports are that women have been voluntarily dropping their memberships in Planet Fitness gyms because of the perceived danger this policy may have for their own safety and several conservative groups have picked up the argument that the gym is not a part of the rational universe now.  The gyms could try and install unisex locker rooms for those who are transgender to avoid this type of reaction but in reality, they are going a long way in accepting transgender members needs.


Cormier will not let the subject die either..... she is now trying to claim that Planet Fitness is going against the very policy that she objected to by cancelling her membership.  I am sorry Ms Cormier, they cancelled your membership because you have made such a big stink about how offended you are and you will not let the matter drop.  Maybe if you were using one of the private changing areas when Carlotta walked in, you wouldn't have even known she had dropped off her coat and purse.  I certainly could have a bit more sympathy if you have never been seen naked by a man before.




http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/03/09/planet-fitness-transgender-member_n_6833458.html

http://www.mlive.com/news/saginaw/index.ssf/2015/03/midland_lawmaker_planet_fitnes.html

http://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/transgender-woman-planet-fitness-locker-room-article-1.2142084

http://www.wnem.com/story/28278233/planet-fitness-drops-member-after-gender-identity-complaint

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2985579/Transgender-woman-believes-s-center-Planet-Fitness-policy-controversy-says-used-women-s-locker-room-twice-hang-coat-purse.html

http://www.mlive.com/news/saginaw/index.ssf/2015/03/transgender_woman_says_she_onl.html#incart_2box

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