{"id":1231,"date":"2016-12-05T12:17:05","date_gmt":"2016-12-05T17:17:05","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/acutabove.mipamsu.org\/?p=1231"},"modified":"2016-12-05T12:17:05","modified_gmt":"2016-12-05T17:17:05","slug":"local-gym-makes-progressive-call","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/acutabove.mipamsu.org\/?p=1231","title":{"rendered":"Local gym makes progressive call"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Maggie Schaller<\/strong>
\nUpdate
\nH. H. Dow HS
\n1st Place
\nDivision 2, News Writing
\nNews Story<\/p>\n

In Midland\u2019s Planet Fitness locker room on Feb. 28, a series\u00a0<\/span>of complaints resulted in a revoked membership and\u00a0<\/span>national news headlines. A member of the gym repeatedly\u00a0<\/span>lodged objections against a transgender woman being at the\u00a0<\/span>gym and using the women\u2019s changing facilities.<\/p>\n

Following\u00a0<\/span>their \u201cjudgment free\u201d policy, Planet Fitness prohibited the\u00a0<\/span>complainant from continuing to use their facilities.<\/span>Supporters have flocked to both the criticizer on Facebook,\u00a0<\/span>praising her for standing up for women\u2019s safety and privacy.<\/span>Among the posts are \u201cyou have inspired me\u201d and \u201cproud of\u00a0<\/span>you for standing up.\u201d Others in her defense, including local\u00a0<\/span>politician Gary Glenn, have spoken out to back her. A multitude\u00a0<\/span>of these adherents have also said that they will either stop\u00a0<\/span>going to Planet Fitness or back out of their own memberships.<\/p>\n

<\/span>Encouragement for the transgender woman has been\u00a0<\/span>harder to find. It\u2019s clear that her supporters are the minority,\u00a0<\/span>or at least have been less outspoken about the issue in a\u00a0<\/span>predominately Republican town. While individual advocates\u00a0<\/span>have been scarce, the ACLU (American Civil Liberties Union)<\/span>has displayed their allegiance with the transgender woman\u00a0<\/span>since the incident occurred.<\/p>\n

<\/span><\/div>\n

Jay Kaplan is a staff attorney for the ACLU. He works for<\/span>Michigan\u2019s LGBT project, which is dedicated to protecting\u00a0<\/span>constitutional rights of LGBT persons in the state. He has\u00a0<\/span>emphasized the position the ACLU has in agreement with\u00a0<\/span>Planet Fitness.<\/p>\n

<\/span>\u201cWe think that Planet Fitness\u2019 policy is a good one, that\u00a0<\/span>transgender persons should be able to use restroom and locker\u00a0<\/span>room facilities in accordance with their gender identity and\u00a0<\/span>expression,\u201d Kaplan said in an email interview. \u201cWe applaud<\/span>Planet Fitness for standing behind its policy and supporting the\u00a0<\/span>transgender member of the facility.\u201d<\/p>\n

<\/span>A complicated element that has come into question is what\u00a0<\/span>rights transgender persons in Michigan have. Currently, there\u00a0<\/span>are no laws in Michigan prohibiting discrimination based on\u00a0<\/span>gender identity, so the ultimate decision is left to business\u00a0<\/span>owners on specific instances.<\/p>\n

<\/span>\u201c[The ACLU has] 38 municipalities that have local human\u00a0<\/span>rights ordinances protecting LGBT people,\u201d Kaplan said.<\/span>\u201cMost of these ordinances include gender identity and\u00a0<\/span>expression. Sometimes discrimination against transgender\u00a0<\/span>people in employment settings can be considered sex\u00a0<\/span>discrimination, which is protected against under state and\u00a0<\/span>federal civil rights laws, when it involves gender stereotyping.\u00a0<\/span>It all depends on the facts.\u201d<\/p>\n

<\/span>Specifically in Midland, Kaplan explained that there are no\u00a0<\/span>laws shielding transgender people which tends to make them\u00a0<\/span>easier targets for judgement and discrimination.<\/p>\n

<\/span>Along with the lack of protection for the transgender\u00a0<\/span>community, Michigan is known throughout the country as\u00a0<\/span>being one of the most unsafe states for people in the LGBT\u00a0<\/span>community. In fact, in 2014, Michigan was no. 5 on Rolling<\/span><\/div>\n

Stone\u2019s list \u201c5 Worst States for LGBT People.\u201d The article\u00a0<\/span>provided the fact that Midland had its own bout of bigotry,\u00a0<\/span>but it was emotionally harmful rather than physically.\u00a0<\/span>Conditions in other parts of the state are more violent.<\/p>\n

<\/span>In a survey conducted by a Detroit LGBT rights group,\u00a0<\/span>Detroit was found to be the highest-risk city for gay\u00a0<\/span>travelers in the United States. The qualifications for this\u00a0<\/span>title include a list of hate crimes against transgender\u00a0<\/span>women of color. In 2012, MLive reported that a woman\u00a0<\/span>was \u201cburned so badly she couldn\u2019t be identified for 11\u00a0<\/span>days.\u201d A Detroit inhabitant was shot and killed after being\u00a0<\/span>lacerated in 2013. Even though Michigan has a larger LGBT\u00a0<\/span>community than other states, there are more concentrated\u00a0<\/span>pockets of total intolerance.<\/p>\n

<\/span>Cara Mitrano is a junior who attends both DHS and MHS\u00a0<\/span>during the school day. She has been an active transgender\u00a0<\/span>advocate and in the past has received little pushback on her\u00a0<\/span>efforts to promote acceptance.<\/p>\n

<\/span>In early March, Mitrano went to her locker in the foreign\u00a0<\/span>language hallway, which is adorned with signs including one\u00a0<\/span>titled \u201cHow To Be A Trans Ally.\u201d Another brightly colored sign\u00a0<\/span>has her email address written on it for more information. What\u00a0<\/span>makes the signs different from some others across DHS is that\u00a0<\/span>her signs are laminated, a change that has occurred since they\u00a0<\/span>were initially hung up.<\/p>\n

<\/span>\u201cA few weeks ago, I noticed that when I came to school in the\u00a0<\/span>morning, someone had written a derogatory word on one of my\u00a0<\/span>signs that said \u2018I am an ally\u2019 and had a bunch of different pride\u00a0<\/span>flags on it,\u201d Mitrano said. \u201cI went to the office and reported it,\u00a0<\/span>and they said they would look into it and figure it out. A couple\u00a0<\/span>weeks later, it happened again on new signs that I\u2019d put up.<\/p>\n

<\/span><\/div>\n

\n
I reported it again, and unfortunately there was a large time\u00a0<\/span>window because I\u2019m only here for part of the day. It was a lot of\u00a0<\/span>tapes for them to look through.\u201d<\/p>\n

<\/span>However, Mitrano wasn\u2019t deterred by the backlash she got\u00a0<\/span>from the persons defacing her signs.<\/p>\n

<\/span>\u201cThe next day I put up more signs, and someone vandalized\u00a0<\/span>them within a one hour time period, so the office was able to\u00a0<\/span>look through the tapes and find out who did it,\u201d Mitrano said.<\/span>\u201cI got a call later that said they\u00a0<\/span>had found whoever did it and also\u00a0<\/span>talked to them and they shouldn\u2019t\u00a0<\/span>do it again.\u201d<\/p>\n

<\/span>The most prevalent\u00a0<\/span>organization with the goal of\u00a0<\/span>school-wide equality is the GSA,\u00a0<\/span>co-run by teachers Sarah Panco st<\/span>and Cory Thompson. The GSA has\u00a0<\/span>stood behind Mitrano throughout\u00a0<\/span>the period of time when her locker was\u00a0<\/span>vandalized. Pancost believes that the\u00a0<\/span>next step that should be taken within the\u00a0<\/span>community and within DHS is to talk\u00a0<\/span>more about issues like these.<\/p>\n

<\/span>\u201cWe can bring anything to plate, but\u00a0<\/span>we\u2019re going to have certain ways that we\u00a0<\/span>talk about it,\u201d Pancost said. \u201cI think all ideas\u00a0<\/span>should be open, to an extent; not when it\u2019s\u00a0<\/span>hurting someone. If we\u2019re not talking, it\u2019s going\u00a0<\/span>to come out in other negative ways. I think if we have\u00a0<\/span>more discussion, if we\u2019re more open, people wouldn\u2019t feel\u00a0<\/span>like they have to do really hurtful things as much.\u201d<\/p>\n

<\/span>Even the student supporters of LGBT rights can be\u00a0<\/span>uncomfortable to speak up, fearing that they will be\u00a0<\/span>judged for their beliefs and for taking a side.<\/p>\n

<\/span>\u201c[Teachers and students] are afraid it will be\u00a0<\/span>handled as an imposition of values,\u201d Pancost said. \u201cAnd I\u00a0<\/span>think to not talk about it, that code of silence is a statement.<\/span>And it\u2019s a dangerous statement. We\u2019re taught to shush it up,\u00a0<\/span>and I think that\u2019s the danger.\u201d<\/p>\n

<\/span>Based on Midland\u2019s voting history and the legislators that\u00a0<\/span>have been elected, Pancost acknowledges that it can be seen as a<\/span>\u201cconservative bubble,\u201d but the loud criticizers often over shadow\u00a0<\/span>those who want increased awareness.<\/p>\n

<\/span>\u201cI think that half the people that I actually meet feel like it is\u00a0<\/span>unacceptable to be discriminating against people,\u201d Pancost said.<\/span>\u201cAs a school, when I talk to my students, we\u2019re pretty accepting.\u00a0<\/span>I think you can find communities of all types in Midland, but\u00a0<\/span>maybe the loudest tends to be the more conservative base.\u201d<\/p>\n

<\/span>Kaplan is also familiar with the reasons that have made<\/span>Michigan appear nationally egregious in terms of acceptance.<\/p>\n

<\/span>\u201cMichigan remains one of the last 13 remaining states\u00a0<\/span>that does not permit same-sex couples to marry or does not\u00a0<\/span>recognize legal marriages between same-sex couples from out\u00a0<\/span>of state,\u201d Kaplan said. \u201c Many Michigan judges denying same-<\/span>sex couples the right to jointly adopt their children, because\u00a0<\/span>they cannot legally marry in Michigan.\u201d<\/p>\n

<\/span>Transgender people in Michigan also face challenges that\u00a0<\/span>are seldom seen by people of more customary gender identities\u00a0<\/span>and orientations.<\/p>\n

<\/span>\u201cMichigan\u2019s gender marker change policies that make it\u00a0<\/span>incredibly difficult for transgender people to obtain identity <\/span>documents [driver\u2019s license, state ID, and birth certificate] that\u00a0<\/span>accurately reflect who they really are,\u201d Kaplan said.<\/p>\n

<\/span>As it remains among just 12 other states that do not\u00a0<\/span>allow gay marriage, LGBT rights and marriage have been\u00a0<\/span>a pressing issue for politics especially in Michigan, in both\u00a0<\/span>local and statewide elections. In the November 2014 election\u00a0<\/span>for Representative of the 98th District, Glenn defeated\u00a0<\/span>Joan Brausch. Glenn\u2019s generally conservative ideals are in\u00a0<\/span>contrast with Brausch\u2019s\u00a0<\/span>progressive beliefs.<\/p>\n

<\/span>On March 16, Brausch\u00a0<\/span>wrote a letter to the\u00a0<\/span>editor of the Midland\u00a0<\/span>Daily News expressing her\u00a0<\/span>disconcertment regarding\u00a0<\/span>Glenn\u2019s reaction to what\u00a0<\/span>happened at Planet Fitness.<\/p>\n

<\/span>\u201cAs many as 6 to 8 percent\u00a0<\/span>of the population is gay or identifies\u00a0<\/span>with non-traditional sexuality,\u201d<\/span>Brausch wrote. \u201cSex and gender are\u00a0<\/span>not necessarily equivalent. And despite<\/span>Glenn\u2019s beliefs, gay people are not\u00a0<\/span>mentally ill. Transgender people are not\u00a0<\/span>mentally ill.\u201d<\/p>\n

<\/span>Brausch also voiced her concern about\u00a0<\/span>the way Midland residents have been up\u00a0<\/span>in arms about the idea that transgender\u00a0<\/span>women are a menace to the women\u2019s locker\u00a0<\/span>room and to women\u2019s safety.<\/p>\n

<\/span>\u201cThe transgender woman who used the locker room\u00a0<\/span>at Midland\u2019s Planet Fitness had every right to be\u00a0<\/span>there, just as I do and other women do,\u201d Brausch\u00a0<\/span>said. \u201cMr. Glenn shortchanges women when he\u00a0<\/span>says that Planet Fitness\u2019 policy violates their\u00a0<\/span>privacy, comfort, and peace of mind.<\/p>\n

\u201d<\/span>Brausch ended her letter by saying that she is likely to\u00a0<\/span>start a membership at Planet Fitness.\u00a0<\/span>Both Brausch and Kaplan have conveyed that since the\u00a0<\/span>transgender women identified as a female, it was her right to\u00a0<\/span>use the women\u2019s locker room in accordance with the decision\u00a0<\/span>made by Planet Fitness.<\/p>\n

<\/span>In day-to-day life, even at the gym, Mitrano agrees with the\u00a0<\/span>notion that transgender people face many more hurdles than\u00a0<\/span>many would expect.<\/p>\n

<\/span>\u201cThere\u2019s such an emphasis in this culture for men to be more\u00a0<\/span>masculine, and somebody could see a transgender woman as<\/span>a man pretending to be a woman or being girly or feminine in\u00a0<\/span>some way,\u201d Mitrano said. \u201cAnd even men who identify as male,\u00a0<\/span>if they act not masculine, then a lot of times they are ostracized\u00a0<\/span>or bullied.\u201d<\/p>\n

<\/span>Since it was founded in 1992, Planet Fitness has survived\u00a0<\/span>by the mantra that all walks of life, regardless of their physical\u00a0<\/span>fitness or social identifications are welcome in the gym. The\u00a0<\/span>following statement representing their welcoming nature and\u00a0<\/span>support of all people can be found on the Planet Fitness website:<\/span>\u201cwe\u2019re fiercely protective of our Planet and the rights of our\u00a0<\/span>members to feel like they belong. So we create an environment\u00a0<\/span>where you can relax, go at your own pace and just do your own\u00a0<\/span>thing without ever having to worry about being judged. This is\u00a0<\/span>your Planet. You belong.\u201d<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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