Women Speak Out against YMCA 'Transgender' Bathroom Policies

Mary Margaret Olohan : Aug 30, 2023
The Daily Signal

"He was given free access to the women's locker room to undress and act out any fetishes or fantasies he wants in front of women and girls. And that's what was happening. The men need to stay out of the locker room. ... It's not my job, my responsibility to say it, but I'm going to, and I have been speaking out." -Janell Holloway

[DailySignal.com] FIRST ON THE DAILY SIGNAL: Small-town YMCAs in suburban Ohio have launched themselves headfirst into the transgender debate by allowing men who "identify" as women to access women's locker rooms. And women who have belonged to these supposedly family-friendly YMCAs for years are discovering, to their shock, that management considers their safety and privacy inferior to the feelings of men. (Image: Unsplash-Kenny Zhang)

Local media broke the news earlier this year that an obese man who allegedly identifies as a woman would not be guilty of indecent exposure since, when he was naked in the women's locker room, his stomach fat supposedly concealed his genitalia.

Now, for the first time, some of the women whose privacy he invaded are speaking out in interviews with The Daily Signal.

One Ohio mother, who asks not to be identified to protect the privacy of her two daughters, says that she saw the man, who goes by the name Rachel Glines, fully naked and "leering" when she and her daughters were showering and changing in November 2022.

Another local woman, Janell Holloway, shares that she was shocked and startled to find a naked man in her locker room when she went to change in September 2022. She says she unsuccessfully sought help and comfort from the Xenia, Ohio,YMCA's leadership, only to find that this man had been given permission to use the women's facilities.

Kateisha Young, an employee of the neighboring Fairborn YMCA, shares with The Daily Signal that this same man, also known as Darren Glines, allegedly assaulted her by groping her genitals in December 2022 as she sought to offer emotional support for his struggles living as a transgender-identifying woman.

And Kyle Kettering, a minister at the Church of the Messiah in Xenia, Ohio, shares with The Daily Signal that his 10-year-old and 5-year-old daughters had seen the allegedly naked Glines from the back while they were in the locker room in September 2022, though it appeared that he was covering his genitals with a towel.

"I was sending my girls in by themselves!" the father said in a phone interview. "That was pretty naive on my part, I guess."

The Daily Signal learned of these stories through the Independent Women's Forum. The organization's storytelling coordinator, Andrea Mew, slams the YMCA's actions as "disappointing" but "unsurprising" in a statement to The Daily Signal, saying that "the YMCA has once again let down its female members, ultimately stripping them of any commonsense protections."

"Just like when 16-year-old Abbigail Wheeler spoke out about a biological male in her Illinois YMCA locker room, these women's dignity and their right to privacy is once again on the chopping block," she adds. "Thankfully, Janell Holloway came to Independent Women's Forum with her story because we are determined to prevent woke ideology from silencing and canceling women's voices."

Glines has not responded to requests for comment from The Daily Signal. Neither the Fairborn nor the Xenia YMCA have responded to requests for comment.

Dale Brunner, president and CEO of the YMCA of Greater Dayton, refused to address The Daily Signal's specific questions about protecting women's spaces and privacy. He also would not address Young's allegations against Glines but sent the following statement:

The YMCA of Greater Dayton adheres to Ohio and Federal laws and anti-discrimination laws which allow all members access to its facilities and programs.

In addition, the Greater Dayton YMCAs have a strong record of both protecting personal privacy and modesty in our facilities which are both safe and accommodating while serving and including all members of the community equally.

In addition, we cannot investigate an individual's birth gender identity and then, assign individuals to locker rooms. That would be counter to the law and counter to respect for all people.

We are committed to following the law in order to protect the rights of all members and to protect their right to use YMCA facilities. Should Ohio's Attorney General provide clarification, the YMCA will always strive to be in full compliance with all State and Federal laws while still serving the rights and interests of all our members.

Ohio Attorney General David Yost said as recently as May that the law does not protect subjective preferences of transgender-identifying individuals and that "allowing men to share bathrooms, changing rooms, and locker rooms with women increases the ease with which biological males—most especially men who identify as men—can victimize women and girls."

Holloway believes that Glines was acting predatorily when he began using the women's locker room.

"He was given free access to the women's locker room to undress and act out any fetishes or fantasies he wants in front of women and girls," she tells The Daily Signal. "And that's what was happening. The men need to stay out of the locker room. ... It's not my job, my responsibility to say it, but I'm going to, and I have been speaking out"... Subscribe for free to Breaking Christian News here

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