A Planet Fitness member who was banned for complaining about a transgender woman in the women’s locker room in 2015 said she ‘knew this would happen again’ when she saw the latest controversy hitting the gym.
Yvette Cormier, a Michigan woman who had her Planet Fitness membership canceled nine years ago, told DailyMail.com on Thursday that she saw a lot of parallels between her case and Patricia Silva’s.
Silva, 67, made headlines last week when she expressed outrage that a ‘man with a penis’ performed their ablutions in front of her and a young girl wrapped in a towel. She confronted the person, took a photo and alerted staff.
“My first reaction was that I knew this was going to happen again,” Cormier said.
She offered her support to Silva and joined conservative calls for a boycott, as she did in 2015 when she complained about seeing a transgender woman in the Midland women’s locker room.
Yvette Cormier (pictured), a Michigan woman who had her own membership with Planet Fitness canceled for similar reasons back in 2015, told DailyMail.com on Thursday that she already ‘knew this was going to happen again’
Patricia Silva was banned from Planet Fitness after she shared a photo of ‘a man with a penis’ using the women’s changing room to shave
Cormier sued Planet Fitness for invasion of privacy, sexual harassment, retaliation, breach of contract and emotional distress.
Silva lost, but an appeals court found the gym violated the Consumer Protection Act by not properly informing members that transgender women would be allowed to use the women’s restroom, the Detroit Free Press reported in 2018.
“That’s the purpose of having a men’s and women’s locker room, for the men to go into the men and the women to go into the women,” Cormier told DailyMail.com.
‘I suggested early on having a unisex bathroom and then people who are changing or you know could use that bathroom.’
In her case, she said, the person in question, who was never identified, was not transgender. She claimed he was a ‘perverted’ man who had a history of stalking women around town.
“He liked women and that was his way of getting in there,” Cormier said. ‘He was mental and he pursued women. He got kicked out of our mall for stalking a woman at a jewelry story, and he also approached roller derby girls and asked them for sex.
“I’m surprised other people haven’t been raped or children abused,” she continued. ‘This is what will keep happening eventually if you keep allowing this.’
She said she still believes women’s toilets should be reserved for biological women and that there should be separate ‘unisex’ bathrooms created for transgender women.
“Whatever they have to do, but don’t invade my privacy,” she said. ‘I should be the one to decide if I want the opposite sex in my bathroom.
“You are not a transgender hater for being against this,” she added. ‘I don’t understand why it’s so hard to understand. It never was.’
Cormier said her case was all the more frustrating because her perpetrator was not transgender. She claimed he was a ‘perverted’ man who had a history of stalking women around town.
Amidst the outcome of Silva’s complaint, Planet Fitness saw over $400 million wiped off its value in just five days.
It comes as DailyMail.com learned Silva tried to get the police involved in the dispute but was told there is no crime, DailyMail.com has learned.
“She wanted us to do an investigation, but the report we got is that the person was shaving in a women’s bathroom,” said Fairbanks Police Sgt. Caleb Reuter told DailyMail.com on Thursday.
“There was no indecent exposure that was reported. There was a man in the bathroom, fully clothed.
“It was never a case because there is no crime, regardless of anyone’s opinion on the case,” added the sergeant.
Planet Fitness in Fairbanks, Alaska touts its ‘judgment-free zone’ to its members – but canceled Silva’s membership after she complained about the incident
Planet Fitness’ policy stated that “discomfort is not a reason to deny entry to the transgender member”
The company immediately canceled Silva’s membership, stating that she broke its ‘judgment-free rules’ and violated a policy that prohibits pictures in the locker room.
Silva then went back on social media to decry his cancellation, fueling a culture war over transgender rights that has flared up in locales across America in recent years.
Silva, 67, described the encounter at her local gym on Facebook last week, expressing outrage that a ‘man with a penis’ performed their ablutions in front of her and a young girl
In another post, the Alaska resident defended his response to the incident
Silva, from Alaska, is seen in Facebook photos with her husband and daughter
Silva told DailyMail.com that she does not regret her actions and will continue to raise the alarm about the need to maintain the ‘safe space’ of a women’s bathroom, despite facing some backlash from activists.
“There are some liberals who have come to my house,” she said. “I don’t want to be asked by anyone.”
Meanwhile, Silva said she’s been told by other gym patrons that Planet Fitness appears to be bending over backwards to appease the person she confronted, assigning staff to escort her into the bathroom while telling other female members, that they can ‘use a booth’ if they want more privacy.
After her encounter, Silva took to Facebook to tell people about her experience and recounted her altercation with the transgender individual — Planet Fitness would go on to ban Silva and file a police report against her
The gym has defended its “judgment-free” inclusion policy – and has been said to prioritize the transgender woman by assigning staff to escort her into the bathroom, while telling other female members they can “use a stall” if they want more privacy
At this point, Silva said she has no desire to try to reinstate her membership. However, she wants to return to talk to staff about a possible compromise. Like Cormier, Silva suggests creating a unisex bathroom for people in transition.
“I’m going to go back to Planet Fitness to talk to them about how we can fix this,” she said. ‘I hope we can create safe spaces for everyone. Trans people, non-binary people really need to have that space too, but it can’t be in my bathroom with a man.’
She also elaborated on what happened in her exchange. In a video she posted on Facebook, she did not make it clear whether the person was clothed. However, she admitted to DailyMail.com that he was fully clothed.
Meanwhile, she described in the video that she saw a girl of about 11 in the room. But she told DailyMail.com the girl may have been closer to 16.
She said she confronted the person standing around the sink and said: “You are a man with a penis and you need to leave this toilet.”
“Well, I’m LGB queer transitioning,” she recalled him replying.
“You’re still a man and you need to go,” she allegedly replied.
“He wanted to keep arguing and I just walked out the door,” she told DailyMail.com.
She then alerted reception staff and said a female member of staff replied: ‘It’s a girl.’ And I replied, ‘it’s a man.’