GASTONIA, N.C. – A person who is a biological male and a member of a Planet Fitness gym in North Carolina was arrested after he reportedly entered the women’s locker room and stripped down “completely naked,” saying he identified as a woman, according to authorities.
While trans-identifying individuals are getting away with the same actions, Christopher Miller, 38, was not so fortunate. He was (appropriately) arrested and charged with indecent exposure after parading around in the ladies locker room wearing “nothing but a smile,” as Ray Stevens humorously sang in the 1974 hit, “The Streak.”
The incident was reported by an alarmed woman who called 911 last Thursday from the Planet Fitness in the city of Gastonia on South New Hope Road, WSOC-TV reported.
“It’s a man but he says he identifies as a woman, and he won’t leave the restroom,” the 911 caller told an emergency dispatcher. “But he is just walking around showing us his **** and he won’t leave.”
“OK, so he is completely naked?” the dispatcher queried.
“He is completely naked,” the caller confirmed.
Following a preliminary investigation, Miller was subsequently taken into custody and booked at the Gaston County Jail on a felony charge and held on a $25,000 bond. His online inmate entry categorized him as a male, according to the New York Post.
Miller’s arrest occurred after a frightened woman at the Gastonia Planet Fitness called 911 to report there was a naked man in the ladies’ locker room. (Google Maps)
It’s unclear if Miller’s alleged lewd conduct was an effort to demonstrate the absurdity being afforded to biological males self-identifying as women, or other reasons. There was no indication that Miller had previously identified himself as a transgender female prior to venturing into the women’s locker room.
Despite biological realities, Planet Fitness allows members to use the restroom and locker room of their choice, which is aligned with their self-reported gender identity, despite the feelings and fears of actual women occupying the same space.
“I think a woman should be able to go into a woman’s bathroom without a man coming in saying he’s transgender,” gymgoer Betty Brice said.
Planet Fitness gained unfavorable national attention last month when a gym in Fairbanks, Alaska made a decision to revoke the membership of Patricia Silva who recorded video of a transgender person with male genitalia in the women’s locker room.
Silva said she went to the gym and saw “a man with a penis” shaving in the women’s locker room.
“I just came out of Planet Fitness, and there is a man shaving in the women’s bathroom,” she said in the first of several videos she posted about the frightening encounter.
“I realize he wants to be a woman … but I’m not comfortable with him shaving in my bathroom.”
In another video posted by Silva, she said there was a girl who could have been 12 years old “in a towel kind of freaked out that there’s a man shaving in the locker room.”
Silva had her membership revoked for violating a policy that prohibits taking photos or video in the locker room, Planet Fitness confirmed.
“As the home of the Judgement Free Zone, Planet Fitness is committed to creating an inclusive environment,” Planet Fitness chief corporate affairs officer McCall Gosselin said in a statement to Fox News Digital. “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. The member who posted on social media violated our mobile device policy that prohibits taking photos of individuals in the locker room, which resulted in their membership being terminated.”
So the key word in the policy appears to be “sincere.” If a male person is “sincere” about wanting to be a female, everyone else is expected to cooperate with the misrepresentation of facts in order to appease the individual. … How is that “creating an inclusive environment” asked one observer. “A disturbed person is happy while nearly everyone else is shamed into shutting up and going along with the charade.”
In the immediate aftermath of the controversy, Planet Fitness stocks plunged, according to the Athletic Business.
On March 7, shares of Planet Fitness were trading at $66.92 at closing. The stock steadily declined following the controversy, opening March 21 around $56 per share. That decreases the company valuation from around $5.6 billion to around $4.95 billion.
