Planet Fitness recently found itself embroiled in controversy after the company canceled a customer’s membership for taking a picture of a biological male using a woman’s locker room in Fairbanks, Alaska. Following the incident, Planet Fitness’ stock dropped by nearly eight percent.
Patricia Silver documented the incident to raise concerns about the individual who was shaving in the women’s locker room. However, instead of action being taken to enforce gendered restrooms, Silver had her membership revoked by the fitness chain. As the story has gained traction, reports indicate that #BoycottPlanetFitness trended on X. On Tuesday, Planet Fitness stock fell to a five-month low of $54.80 per share.
“I just came out of Planet Fitness, and there is a man shaving in a women’s bathroom,” Silva said in a video. “I realize he wants to be a woman, he gets to be a woman, I love him in Christ. He’s a spiritual being having a human experience. He doesn’t like his gender, so he wants to be a woman, but I’m not comfortable with him shaving in my bathroom.”
Popular conservative X account Libs of TikTok picked up the story, sharing Patricia’s video with the caption, “Woman in Planet Fitness claims she went into the bathroom and this man who thinks he’s a woman was in there shaving,” the account wrote. The post also included a picture of the individual in question. “Why does @PlanetFitness allow men to use the women’s bathroom and invade women’s private spaces??” the post added.
Silva uploaded a “day 2” update on the incident at the Fairbanks location. “I came in Monday there’s a man on the women’s locker room shaving. A little girl sitting on the corner, could have been 12 years old. I don’t know how old she was, in a towel, kind of freaked out that there’s a man shaving in her locker room,” she said.
Silva continued in her update, explaining why she felt compelled to photograph the individual in the locker room. “Well, I was offended,” she stated. “I took a picture of him and I asked him why are you there? You’re a man with a penis. Why are you in the women’s locker room and he justified by saying I’m queer LGB and I said, You shouldn’t be in the women’s locker room.”
“Well, I thought and as I said, this morning, I got canceled. Planet Fitness is defending the man in the women’s locker room, the man with a penis rather than the child sitting in the corner with a towel wrapped around her. So people I just want you to know. This is weird. It’s not good. It’s rather disturbing,” she added. Watch Silva’s video via Libs of TikTok below:
Following this incident, Planet Fitness stock experienced a significant decline in share price, falling by as much as 7.8 percent. The company issued a response to the the incident in Alaska, explaining its “gender identity non-discrimination policy.”
“As the home of the Judgement Free Zone, Planet Fitness is committed to creating an inclusive environment,” Planet Fitness chief corporate affairs officer McCall Gosselin said.“Our gender identity non-discrimination policy, states that members and guests may use the gym facilities that best align with their sincere, self-reported gender identity. The member who posted on social media violated our mobile device policy that prohibits taking photos of individuals in the locker room, which resulted in their membership being terminated.”
Note: The featured image is a screenshot from the embedded video.
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