Exercise chain Planet Fitness suffered a $400 million drop in market value in the last week after canceling the membership of a woman who complaining about a trans-identifying male in the female locker room.
The company’s stock price, which was trading at a monthly high of $66.92 on March 7th, hit a new low of $56.46 on Tuesday, dropping Planet Fitness’ overall valuation from $5.3 billion to $4.9 billion.
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The controversy surrounding the “judgment-free” gym began earlier this month, when gymgoer Patricia Silva of Fairbanks, Alaska made a now-viral Facebook post about an incident at her local Planet Fitness.
“I just came out of Planet Fitness, and there is a man shaving in the women’s bathroom,” she said in a video. “I realize he wants to be a woman, he gets to be a woman. I love him in Christ, he’s a spiritual being having a human experience. He doesn’t like his gender, so he wants to be a woman. But I’m not comfortable with him shaving in my bathroom.”
An accompanying text post provided further details:
I went to planet fitness… Walked in the bathroom, and there stands a MAN shaving… I looked at him, said ‘hey’ … he looked up… and I said, “You are a man shaving in the women’s bathroom, and I am not OK with that.”
He replied… “Well, I’m LGB..”
Whatever that is… nevertheless, I told him “You’re a MAN and you’re invading my space!”
He wanted to argue to justify why he can be there… I walked away…
I stepped out of the locker room and loudly asked the front desk, “Are you aware that there is a MAN shaving in the women’s bathroom… I’m not OK with that ⁉️” The two men standing at the desk, put their heads down, and their tails between their legs! As I was walking out the door…at my back, a woman shouts “it’s a girl”… I shouted back “it’s a man!”
Silva’s posts, which included a picture of the individual in question, went viral on social media after being shared by conservative activist Chaya Raichik (aka “Libs of TikTok”), drawing extensive criticism toward Planet Fitness.
Woman in Planet Fitness claims she went into the bathroom and this man who thinks he’s a woman was in there shaving.
Why does @PlanetFitness allow men to use the women’s bathroom and invade women’s private spaces?? pic.twitter.com/qVJ0YUFQvc
— Libs of TikTok (@libsoftiktok) March 12, 2024
On March 13, Silva reportedly received a call from gym employees “announcing that they have chosen to cancel my membership rather than protect youth girls and women 12 years and older that enter the women’s locker room from men with a penis.” The company argued that taking photos or videos of other customers is strictly prohibited, meaning they were well within their rights to revoke Silva’s membership.
Related: Rip Curl Surfing Co. Hit with Wave of Boycotts Over New Transgender Brand Ambassador
As Silva, Raichik, and others called for a boycott against Planet Fitness, the company reasserted its commitment to “inclusion.”
“As the home of the Judgement Free Zone, Planet Fitness is committed to creating an inclusive environment,” said a response from Chief Corporate Affairs Officer McCall Gosselin. “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.”
However, while the gym’s policies allow customers to use the locker rooms corresponding to their gender identity, a statement from company leadership also emphasized that this is not a blanket invitation to freely enter any locker room they please.
“If it is confirmed that a member is acting in bad faith and improperly asserts a gender identity, they may be asked to leave and their membership may be terminated,” it said.
Following the stock losses, Raichik called for an intensifying boycott against Planet Fitness and other companies that “cave to gender pseudoscience and allow men in women’s private spaces!”
Whoa. Planet Fitness saw $400 Million wiped off its value since we broke the story of them allowing men in female lockers rooms and then banning the woman who exposed it.
Turns out people don’t want to support companies who cave to gender pseudoscience and allow men in womens’… pic.twitter.com/s55gBryFjD
— Libs of TikTok (@libsoftiktok) March 21, 2024
Connor Walcott is a staff writer for Valuetainment.com. Follow Connor on X and look for him on VT’s “The Unusual Suspects.”
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