Planet Fitness has recently come under fire after word broke that an Alaska location of the gym chain allowed a man to shave in the women's bathroom. Now the gym’s stock has plummeted after it canceled the membership of the woman who complained.
The incident took place earlier this week when a former gym member, Patricia Silvia, encountered a man in the women’s locker room. The man was reportedly shaving his face. Silvia also claimed that there was “a little girl sitting in the corner” who was likely around 12-years-old, “in a towel, kind of freaked out,” in a written post online, Daily Mail reported.
The man reportedly told Silvia that he was queer.
When Silvia went to Planet Fitness management to complain, instead of issuing an apology that Silvia had to be exposed to a man in a place that's supposed to be safe for women, they revoked her membership because she took a photo of the man in the women’s locker room. Apparently Silvia breaking a gym rule about photography was grounds for dismissal, but a man entering the ladies locker room wasn’t?!
Cray cray.
Since the event, public support for Silvia has poured out. Earlier this week the gym giant trended on X while many users wrote “#BoycottPlanetFitness” after finding out how the gym stood by the queer freak.
Additionally, as the New York Post reported, Planet Fitness’ stock price was traded at a monthly high of $66.92 on March 7. As of Tuesday of this week, that price was down to $56.46 and is projected to keep plummeting.
Even so, Planet Fitness has remained firm in its stance to punish Silvia rather than the queer man.
“Our gender identity non-discrimination policy states that members and guests may use the facilities that best align with the sincere, self-reported gender identity,” the gym said in a statement. “If it is confirmed that a member is acting in bad faith and improperly asserts a gender identity, they may be asked to leave and their membership may be terminated.”
What’s odd about this whole thing is that the queer man didn’t even look like he was trying to be a lady. No makeup, no wig, no dress like many of the trans women often deck themselves out in. Honestly, it looked like the man just entered the locker room willy nilly, and when he got caught, insisted that he identified as a woman.
In a separate video, Silvia insisted that she felt like she "was in an unsafe space" after noticing a "man with a penis" in the women's locker room. She noted that Planet Fitness prioritized said "man with a penis" over a young child who had witnessed the incident.
As the New York Post also noted, this type of thing isn’t new for Planet Fitness. In 2015, a Michigan woman, Yvette Cormier, sued the gym after complaining about a transgender woman (a man). A judge ruled against Cormier.
While it’s sad that Silvia had to be part of such a violating incident, at least it seems like nobody is on Planet Fitness' side in this!
