A naked man reportedly took advantage of Planet Fitness’s transgender locker room policy to parade his genitalia around the ladies’ facilities and be inappropriate towards women.
Christopher Allan Miller, 38, was arrested on Thursday for going into the women’s locker room at a Planet Fitness gym in Gastonia, North Carolina.
Miller claimed to be a woman in order to enter the female facilities, but there is no indication that he identified as a transgender woman prior to the incident and his Planet Fitness membership lists him as a male. He also has a beard.
The gym’s policy allows members to use whichever bathroom and locker room that aligns with the gender they identify as as part of the no-judgement motto.
The rule that has sparked a wave of backlash against the gym and has prompted customers to threaten the establishment with boycotts and a $400million loss in value after multiple incidents in which the transgender policy has been abused.
Christopher Allan Miller, 38, was arrested on Thursday for going into the women’s locker room at a Planet Fitness gym in Gastonia, North Carolina
Planet Fitness touts its ‘judgement free zone’ to its members – and use the motto to support transgender customers using whichever locker room aligns with their chosen gender
Gym-goers are concerned about the policy and believe Miller abused the policy as a way to act inappropriately towards female customers, WSOC-TV reported.
Allegations claim that Miller got completely naked in the locker room and even asked a woman to rub lotion on him and shower together.
A worried woman who was shocked to see a fully-naked Miller in the locker room called 911 because she was so disturbed.
‘It’s a man but he says he identifies as a woman, and he won’t leave the restroom,’ the 911 caller told the 911 dispatcher. ‘But he is just walking around showing us his and he won’t leave.’
The 911 dispatcher asked ‘what’s he wearing,’ to which the flustered customer responded ‘Nothing. Literally nothing.’
‘Ok, so he is completely naked?’ the responder said. ‘He is completely naked,’ the woman answered.
Miller was arrested for a felony charge of indecent exposure and booked into the Gaston County Jail and his bond was set for $25,000.
Betty Brice, a Planet Fitness customer, is upset that Miller claimed to identify as a woman to stay in the women’s locker room.
‘I think a woman should be able to go into a woman’s bathroom without a man coming in saying he’s transgender,’ Brice said.
Clark Simon, a transgender advocate, says that the policy creates a sense of ‘safety, security and affirmation’ for trans gym-goers.
He says that it is no excuse for someone that isn’t transgender to violate that space and that Planet Fitness must control that.
Planet Fitness has been slammed with a wave of complaints for its rules on transgender people using female locker rooms and bathrooms.
At least 28 Planet Fitness locations were targeted with bomb threats after the gym franchise sparked fury for banning a customer who shared a photo of a transgender woman shaving in the bathroom.
From Florida to Alabama, dozens of locations in eleven different states reported hoax bomb threats following weeks of backlash against the chain’s ‘trans-inclusive’ locker room policy and the decision to ban the member, as reported by Media Matters.
Patricia Silva, 67, made headlines in March after she claimed to see a ‘man with a penis’ washing themselves in front of a 12-year-old girl in the women’s locker room.
Planet Fitness has been slammed with a wave of complaints for its rules on transgender people using female locker rooms and bathrooms
Patricia Silva was banned from Planet Fitness after she shared a photo of ‘a man with a penis’ who was using the female locker room to shave
Silva was barred from the gym in Alaska, and the gym franchise refused to reverse its decision despite its valuation plummeting by $400 million in five days after the incident.
No bombs were found in any of the facilities, but the threats forced dozens of businesses to evacuate their buildings and prompted FBI agents to launch an investigation.
The first location targeted in the string of incidents was in Fairbanks, Alaska, where Silva used to work out and claimed to have seen ‘a man shaving in the women’s bathroom.’
Silva posted a video describing her experience at the gym on Facebook in early March, along sharing a photo of the person online.
On March 13, Planet Fitness revoked Silva’s membership and filed a police report against her, citing her violation of gym policy by taking photos and/or videos in the locker room.
Planet Fitness’ value plummeted $400 million in five days after they banned Silva when she shared the photo of a ‘trans woman’ using a female locker room.
The company’s value dropped from $5.3 billion on March 14 to $4.9 billion on March 19, and its shares are down by 13.59 percent compared to a month ago.