Tuesday, March 10, 2015

Planet Fitness Terminated Membership of Woman Who Complained About A Transgender Member

When the husband and I go to the gym - something we don't do often enough - we go to a local Planet Fitness because (i) it's conveniently located, (ii) the cost is reasonable, and (iii) it has a "no judgment zone" policy, unlike some local gyms filled with gym bunnies who do all but mock those of us less obsessed with working out.  Now, Planet Fitness has demonstrated that it truly stands behind its no judgment, no discrimination policy by terminating the membership of a woman who went off over a transgender woman at a company facility.  Huffington Post has details.  Here are highlights:

Planet Fitness says its staff stood by the company mantra of being a "Judgement Free Zone" when they canceled the membership of a woman who "inappropriately" responded to the presence of a transgender woman in the locker room. 

Member Yvette Cormier complained to a front desk employee after seeing a transgender woman in the women's locker room at the Planet Fitness in Midland, Michigan, according to ABC News. But after the employee told her it is company policy to allow members to use whichever locker room associates with their gender identity, Cormier said she decided to tell "everyone in the locker room what happened."

In turn, Planet Fitness canceled her membership because of the "inappropriate" way in which she went about dealing with the situation, CNN reported.

McCall Gosselin, director of public relations at Planet Fitness Corporate, released a statement to The Huffington Post on the decision: 
Planet Fitness is committed to creating a non-intimidating, welcoming environment for our members. Our gender identity non-discrimination policy states that members and guests may use all gym facilities based on their sincere self-reported gender identity. The membership of the member in question was not cancelled as a result of complaints about the policy, as we welcome all feedback from our members. Rather, the manner in which she expressed her concerns about the policy exhibited behavior that club management deemed inappropriate and disruptive to other members, which is a violation of the membership agreement and as a result her membership was cancelled.
As Huffington Post reports, the usual hate merchants were up in arms over Planet Fitness' policy of treating all people respectfully:
Some conservatives, however, are troubled by Planet Fitness' response. In a blog post, the Washington, D.C.-based Family Research Council said Planet Fitness is "no longer part of the rational universe" and urged members to go to gyms "where the atmosphere will be more conducive to moral sanity." 

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