Easter Sunday found us seeking, and finding, hidden Easter eggs. But the White House sent us on another search.
“NOW, THEREFORE, I, JOSEPH R. BIDEN JR., President of the United States of America, by virtue of the authority vested in me by the Constitution and the laws of the United States, do hereby proclaim March 31, 2024, as Transgender Day of Visibility.”
We didn’t find any on Brumby Road, alas.
A transgender person apparently became a little too visible for one Planet Fitness customer. According to Patricia Silva:
“I just came out of Planet Fitness, and there is a man shaving in the women’s bathroom”. Silva said she “loves” the individual as “a spiritual being having a human experience.” But she was “not comfortable” with the individual shaving in her bathroom.
How dare Ms. Silva claim the bathroom as ‘hers’ when I’m pretty sure if she had asked the person shaving what ‘his’ pronouns were, the response would have been “she/her” or “they/their” or “ze/zen”. How insensitive to see a human with male genitalia and facial hair and not realize that person is as much a woman as Ms. Silva is.
Planet Fitness has a bathroom policy, of course:
“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.
Anybody besides me notice that the first comma in the sentence above is incorrect? Kind of like in the sentence “Our dog Luke, is recovering nicely from his $urgery. Which he is; thanks for asking.
You gotta love the language ‘sincere, self-reported’ gender identity. Wouldn’t it be nice if we could use the ‘sincere, self-reported’ method in other areas, like providing income and deductions information to the IRS? Or when pulled over for some traffic violation, claim to ‘sincerely self-report’ that I was only doing 50 mph, not 75?
More from Planet Fitness Execs…
As the home of the Judgement Free Zone, Planet Fitness is committed to creating an inclusive environment. (This time the comma is correct!)
Including gender fluid locker rooms, obviously.
Why Stop at Three? Endless Permutations…
At UC Davis I lived in a high rise dorm (Ryerson Hall) my freshman year. There were 5 floors: floors 2 and 4 were coed. Each of those rooms held either two men or two women. Those were simpler times and there was no confusion over the matter. And no other genders or non-binaries to consider.
The 3rd floor was all female and the 5th floor, where I resided, was all male. That does not mean that the occasional female did not find her way up there to spend the night, and when she did she considered our supposedly all guy bathroom part of her terrain. I recall brushing my teeth one morning and being startled by a woman entering the bathroom wearing a towel and sandals. She headed for the showers and lost the towel on the way. I was too much of a gentleman to stare, but I saw enough to realize she was really a she. But I didn’t ask about ‘her’ pronouns, so now I wonder…
I’m not sure if I had somehow been spending time in the early morning on the 3rd floor, I would have been well received if I had wandered into that restroom for a shower. But the chances of that happening were about the same as me getting an NBA contract. I never made any romantic connections at UCD, not even close.
None of the guys on my floor ever complained about the occasional female showing up to shower, and none of the males ever reciprocated by attempting to do the same on the 3rd floor. The women would have complained and the young man would be in trouble. A double standard to be sure, but perfectly normal in 1975. See how far we have traveled down the gender identity road?
Rich Freggiaro Cycling Blog 