Parental rights group seeks Title IX probe of YMCA over transgenders in locker rooms

A parents’ rights group is asking the Trump administration to investigate the YMCA for possible violations of federal law for allowing men who identify as women into women’s locker rooms and, in several instances, allowing them to expose their naked bodies to women and girls.

“I write to file a formal complaint against the YMCA of the USA (“YMCA”) for engaging in unlawful gender-based discrimination in its programs and policies,” Alleigh Marré, the executive director of the American Parents Coalition, wrote in a letter on June 10 to the secretaries of the departments of Health and Human Services, Housing and Urban Development, and Education.

The letter follows news reports that indicated the national YMCA organization had issued guidance as far back as 2017 recommending that biologically male campers and staff be allowed to use the cabins and bathrooms “aligned with their gender identity” at YMCA camps.

The letter then goes on to outline how individual YMCAs had implemented those policies.

In April, a mother and her young daughter were exposed to a naked man in a women’s locker room at a local YMCA in Kansas City, Missouri. The individual in question reportedly said something along the lines of “Honey, I’m a woman,” when the girl’s mother inquired why he was in the locker room.

That YMCA told WDAF-TV in Kansas City that “individuals are allowed to use the locker room or restroom that they identify with,” but that “members are asked to wear a towel, wrap, or other clothes at all times.”

Paula Spreitzer Oxler, the vice president of marketing and communications at the YMCA of Greater Kansas City, provided a statement to The Daily Signal about the incident.

“We’re aware that a recent alleged incident at the North Kansas City YMCA has made some community and YMCA members concerned about their safety at the Y. We are committed to ensuring that everyone feels comfortable and safe at the Y,” Oxler wrote.

“The YMCA of Greater Kansas City has been working closely with law enforcement throughout the investigation, which is ongoing. The member in question has had their membership suspended, pending that investigation,” she added.

“The incident as reported would be an unacceptable violation of the YMCA of Greater Kansas City’s policies and core values,” Oxler said.

Separately, a man was caught nude by Rebecca Phillips, a 17-year-old teenage girl, who was showering in the women’s locker room at the Cameron Family YMCA in Santee, California.

“As long as you are not a red flag on Megan’s Law—California sex-offender registry—a grown male can shower alongside a teenage girl at your YMCA location here in Santee,” Phillips said of the incident. The Cameron Family YMCA did not respond to a request for comment.

The American Parents Coalition’s letter to the federal agencies details other instances of males in women’s spaces at local YMCAs, and notes that “[in] recent weeks, the YMCA has either restricted access to the portions of its website that deal with gender policies or has taken down those pages altogether.”

Because the YMCA is the recipient of more than $600 million in government grants each year, it is obligated to follow federal law when it receives federal money. That means abiding by Title IX.

Title IX “prohibits discrimination based on sex in education programs and activities that receive federal financial assistance,” according to the Department of Education.

“The YMCA’s policy of disfavoring and imperiling young girls and favoring and empowering those who choose to present as a gender other than their own is antithetical to the principles of federal civil rights law and gender equality,” Marré wrote in her letter.

She also told The Daily Signal that the YMCA’s policies matter because it annually serves more than 4 million children and teens across the country.

“They do a lot of after-school programming, summer camps. When kids are out of school, especially in that either preschool or elementary age, they function as a child care option in the summer for a lot of parents and families,” Marré explained.

[Editor’s note: This story originally was published by The Daily Signal.]