I spoke with the manager of Villa Sports.
I began by honestly praising her facility and employees. My family and I are long term members and enjoy that facility and its exercise resources, classes, and swimming amenities. Then I went to the topic at hand.
Last week, several ladies were undressing in the Ladies’ locker room at Villa and found themselves face to face with a naked person with male genitalia, swinging its penis around.
Multiple ladies expressed their discomfort and anger at this situation.
The Manager stated that their facility is in compliance with state discrimination law. Let’s examine that.
I told her, “In your supposed compliance, you are failing to protect our wives, daughters, granddaughters, and ladies who are your customers. Equally important, you are failing to protect the young ladies who are your employees and who, along with the young men working at Villa, do a great job of serving your customers.”
She stuck with her assertion that they are in compliance with Colorado discrimination laws. To make sure she saw this as a massive problem, I told her that potential criminal prosecution for indecent exposure, pedophilia, and sexual assault on a minor in her female locker room would overrule their compliance to the Colorado Discrimination act.
So, I went to the Colorado Department of Regulatory Agencies (DORA) website. Their response was;
"The Colorado Anti-Discrimination Act states that it is not a discriminatory practice 'to restrict admission to a place of public accommodation to individuals of one sex if such restriction has a bona fide relationship to the goods, services, facilities, privileges, advantages, or accommodations of such place of public accommodation.'
Looking further, I found in C.R.S. Section 24-34-601(3). Colorado Civil Rights Commission Rules and Regulations *3 CCR 708-1) Rule 81.9 states that;
“Nothing in the Act (Colorado Anti-Discrimination Act), prohibits segregation of facilities on the basis of gender.
Here is the interesting part…
In gender-segregated facilities where undressing in the presence of others occurs, covered entities shall make Reasonable Accommodations to allow access consistent with an individual's gender identity.'"
Reasonable Accommodations…
The path of least resistance is to turn a blind eye and let things happen out of sight and out of mind. I recognize that there are a lot of different agendas screaming for attention and great places like Villa Sports are caught in the middle.
I proposed that making Reasonable Accommodations that protect our wives, daughters, granddaughters, and ladies of our community resides in sending individuals with male genitalia, who identify as women, to the private smaller dressing rooms. This would protect our ladies and Villa Sports from situations like this… That could easily soar into something far worse in the women’s locker room.
I want Villa Sports to continue being a great place to work out, take classes, swim with my family, and have good clean fun without individuals with male genitalia intruding on the privacy of women in the women’s locker room.
If it ceases to be a safe place for my family, we will take our money and membership elsewhere.
Jay