Earlier this month we reported that an Alaska woman had her Planet Fitness membership revoked after she reported finding a man shaving in the women’s locker room while a young girl was present. The man refused to leave insisting “he had a right to be there” because he identified as “queer LGB.”
The incident was all too familiar. In 2021, a Los Angeles spa made headlines after a man walked into a women’s changing area, exposing himself to the women and young girls inside. The spa supported the man’s right to do so, yet he turned out to be a serial sex offender.
I said at the time that since Planet Fitness is enabling men to have access to private women’s spaces, the company deserves the Bud Light treatment. It looks like Planet Fitness is indeed paying the price for its pro-trans policies, as its stock tanked after the story went viral.
Planet Fitness saw the valuation of the company’s stock drop this week after an Alaska gym canceled a woman’s membership when she photographed a male using the women’s locker room.
The company’s stock price, which traded at a monthly high of $66.92 on March 7, plummeted to a low of $56.46 on Tuesday.
The price drop followed an incident in which Patricia Silva encountered a “man in women’s locker room shaving.”
She also claimed in a video posted to Facebook that there was “a little girl sitting in the corner. She could have been [12 years old] … in a towel kind of freaked out.”
“I was offended, I took a picture of him,” she said in the clip.
In a statement, the company said, “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.”
However, the policy also empowers members to question the legitimacy of an individual’s “gender identity.”
If a serious concern or significant doubt about the bona fides of a person’s transgender or nonbinary status/identity arises and which the team member can articulate, the team member shall address their concerns with the member. If discussion with the member fails to resolve the serious concern or doubt, the club may ask for external evidence of the member’s asserted gender identity. 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.
While this might sound like a fair policy on its face, it’s incredibly problematic because the gym allows men access to women’s spaces by default, and it’s up to members to complain if they believe that a man is acting in bad faith. It also raises questions about how the gym can assess the legitimacy of his gender identity.
Related: Is It Time to Give Planet Fitness the Bud Light Treatment?
According to reports, the man who was using the women’s locker room facilities remains a member of the gym and has been assigned a staffer to accompany him in the locker room areas and is instructing other women “to back off.”
Planet Fitness’s stock price still hasn’t recovered and is currently at $59.90 as of Monday morning, still below its monthly high of $66.92. People are reporting on social media that they have canceled their members to Planet Fitness over this incident.