http://www.citynews.ca/2017/06/14/wo...gender-debate/
Quote:
TORONTO — Controversy over a female-only spa's "no male genitals" policy has reignited debate over the rights of transgender people to access traditionally gender-exclusive spaces, even as the federal government pushes stronger protections prohibiting discrimination based on gender identity and gender expression.
The uproar over Toronto's Body Blitz Spa prompted a flurry of complaints on social media, with longtime regular Shelley Marshall among those vowing to boycott the luxurious retreat.
Marshall says she tried to bring her transgender friend to the spa last year but was told she would only be welcome at the bathing suit-optional facility if she had undergone sex reassignment surgery.
"I didn't want to embarrass my friend, I didn't want to humiliate my friend, I didn't want all this to happen," Marshall says of not speaking out at the time. "I'm embarrassed I never stuck up for my friend."
Toronto-based LGBTQ author Jia Qing Wilson-Yang tweeted last week that she was told not to visit the spa because they "won't allow male genitalia."
That followed a Facebook post by Weronika Jane who says the spa's manager called a friend one hour before their booking "to say that they couldn't come because they had a 'no male genital rule.'"
Body Blitz refused to comment on the issue, but released a statement insisting it supports the LGBTQ community.
"However, because Body Blitz Spa is a single-sex facility with full nudity, we are not like other facilities. We recognize that this is an important discussion for single-sex facilities to have and we will seek to find a satisfactory resolution," reads the statement.
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At the national fitness chain GoodLife, members are able to use the change room of the gender they identify with, while various YMCAs across the continent have opened gender-neutral change rooms.
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The article raises some good points if you read it in its entirety. This event has stirred up a lot of debate.
There used to be men only facilities. Women fought to get into them. Then women didnt want co-ed facilities and got women only gyms and clubs. Now transgendered person want into the women only facilities and the women say no. Whats going on?
Are we soon to see the end of gender-based bathrooms and change rooms? How about anything thats divided by gender currently?