Beware of YMCA’s Transgender Policies: As families sign up for summer sports and camps, many may not be aware that YMCA programs will not necessarily separate children based on biological sex. Across the country, YMCA locations are prioritizing gender identity over biological reality and parents are often left in the dark. Biological males may be allowed to compete against girls, share locker rooms, use showers, and stay in overnight cabins without parental notification or consent. Parents have a right to know the truth about where their children will be housed, who they will compete against, and how their privacy will be protected.
Source: National Review
What We’ve Learned: While nationally, the YMCA provides guidelines on how to create a “Safe Space for LGBTQ+ Campers,” it leaves the implementation of facility, housing, and sports policies up to each local branch. Many local YMCAs have adopted radical gender identity policies, allowing individuals to access locker rooms, bathrooms, overnight housing, and sports teams based on self-declared gender identity, not biological sex. What’s worse, is some of these branches are under no obligation to inform parents. While some YMCAs offer private changing spaces, they are typically optional and must be actively requested by families. In many cases parents aren’t told about these options unless they ask.
Source: YMCA NJ
Here are some examples of radical YMCA policies allowing for boys in girls’ private spaces:
- YMCA Camp Olson (MN) Policy: Explicitly states that parents may not be informed ahead of time if a biological male will be placed in a girls’ cabin, sports team, or locker room.
- Lakeland Hills YMCA (NJ) Policy: Allows individuals to use restrooms and locker rooms that match their gender identity rather than biological sex in accordance with New Jersey law.
- Door County YMCA (WI) Policy: Says members may use facilities that align with both their gender presentation and identity rather than biological sex.
- YMCA of Metropolitan Detroit (MI) Policy: Allows access to bathrooms and locker rooms based on gender identity rather than biological sex.
Source: YMCA
In some cases, individuals have been banned or reprimanded after expressing concern about biological males in girls’ spaces. In such instances, the YMCA has chosen to defend radical gender ideology.
A few examples:
- North Kansas City, Missouri: A mother and young daughter encountered a nude biological male in the women’s locker room. YMCA officials claimed he had the right to be there. (National Review)
- Santee, California: A 17-year-old girl encountered a nude biological male in the women’s locker room at her local YMCA. The man identified as transgender. Protests followed, but YMCA leadership defended the policy. (Washington Examiner)
- Xenia, Ohio: A biological male was accused of exposing himself in the women’s locker room. Despite charges, the individual was found not guilty, and YMCA policy remained unchanged. (Dayton Daily News)
- Port Townsend, Washington: An elderly woman was banned from the YMCA after objecting to a male in the women’s changing area. She later sued the facility. (The National Desk)
Source: Runner’sWorld
TIPS FOR PARENTS
OTHER NEWS YOU NEED TO KNOW
LIFE TIME FITNESS POLICY ALLOWS BIOLOGICAL MEN IN WOMEN’S LOCKER ROOMS: A young woman named Sonja Horton recently filed a complaint with the state of Florida alleging that a Life Time fitness center in Palm Beach is allowing men in the women’s locker rooms. Upon informing management that a ‘man in a bikini’ sat across from her in the women’s locker room sauna, Sonja learned that entry to locker rooms depended on: “Whatever you identify as, you can go wherever you want.” Sonja noted the irony of such a policy when signage outside the women’s locker room specifically requests that women with male children use the family locker room. Read more here.
FEDERAL TRADE COMMISSION WILL TAKE A LOOK AT TRANSGENDER PROCEDURES FOR MINORS: Internal documents obtained by the Daily Wire revealed that the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) plans to hold a day-long workshop in July that will focus on transgender medical surgeries, hormones, and puberty blockers. Some suspect that the workshop could precede an FTC investigation into the industry pushing transgender procedures on minors, as the FTC has allegedly held similar informative events prior to initiating legal action against various industries. Read more here.
PARENTS OF LOUDON COUNTY BOYS ‘WRONGFULLY ACCUSED’ FOR OBJECTING TO GIRL IN THEIR LOCKEROOM SLAM SCHOOL DISTRICT: Loudon County Public Schools opened a Title IX investigation into three sophomore boys accusing them of sexual harassment for expressing discomfort over sharing a locker room with a ‘gender-confused’ female student. The female student – who had allegedly been using the male locker rooms since the beginning of the school year – took a video in the locker room of the three boys conversing about the uncomfortable situation. Rather than punishing the girl for breaking school policy by filming minors in the locker room, the district chose to open a Title IX investigation into the male students. Read more here.
COLORADO SCHOOL DISTRICT TAKES STATE TO COURT OVER TRANSGENDER ATHLETE POLICY: A Colorado school district is suing the state and its high school athletics association for forcing schools to allow biological males in girls’ sports. District 49 says the mandate violates Title IX, jeopardizes fairness and safety, and strips schools of their right to protect female athletes. The lawsuit comes after the district passed its own policy requiring teams to be based on biological sex. Read more here.
YMCA SETTLES LAWSUIT AFTER TEENS HARASSED BY MALE MANAGER: The St. Cloud YMCA in Minnesota will pay $140,000 to three former female employees, two of them teenagers, who alleged that a male manager repeatedly sexually harassed them. The EEOC sued, saying leadership ignored their complaints. The settlement includes policy changes and new reporting requirements. Organizations trusted to serve children and families must be held accountable for protecting them. Read more here.
Thanks for reading the latest edition of the American Parents Coalition’s The Lookout. If you have a troubling story to share about a school, doctor, company, or other institution working to usurp parents’ rights, please let us know by emailing us at outreach@americanparentscoalition.org.
