A teenage girl testified this past week that staff at the San Diego area YMCA shamed her for being a homophobe for being angry over a male who claimed to be female that was permitted to shower with females in the women's locker room.
Rebecca Philips, 17, reported that she was frightened and shocked as a naked man strolled in the ladies' locker room of the Santee YMCA in the northwestern San Diego suburb, the New York Post reported.
“As I was showering after my workout I saw a naked male in the women's locker room,” Phillips told an earlier Santee City Council meeting. “I immediately went back into the shower, terrified, and hid behind their flimsy excuse for a curtain until he was gone.”
Phillips added that YMCA must alter its policy to allow “transgender women” to show in the locker room for women. room due to the fact that children frequent the facilities, which includes her five-year-old sister.
“This is the YMCA, where hundreds of children spend their summer afternoons in childcare camps,” Philips told the press. “This is also the YMCA where my daughter had gymnastics lessons. It was intended to be a safe place to chat with her classmates as well as take a shower, and then change.”
“A grown male can shower alongside a teenage girl at your YMCA, here in Santee,” Phillips declared.
However, Phillips stated that when she voiced her concerns to YMCA staff members, they ridiculed her for being a racist for opposition to transgender policy.
“I felt as if I had committed a crime. The inappropriate sexual contact of a man with the minor female was a source of discomfort for them,” she explained.
This is an issue for the entire state since California passed a law stating that any person can access every bathroom and locker they wish in the event that they “identify” as another gender.
In an announcement, the YMCA insists that it is adhering to all laws and guidance from “experts.”
“As an organization that is based on community We strive to meet the needs of everyone. We understand the fact that gender identity and birth are sensitive topics. We depend on subject experts, laws, and guidelines set through California's State of California to ensure that our policies are inclusive and respectful of all members of the community,” the statement read.
The problem of grown males in YMCA ladies' locker rooms isn't unique to California. Similar incidents occurred this year in Washington State, where a Port Townsend YMCA banned an 80-year-old woman from its facility after she complained about a “transgender woman” showering and dressing in the locker room.
