A trans woman in Parksville is speaking out after she was allowed to sign up for a women-only gym, then later said she would only be allowed into the co-ed gym because of the fact that she is trans.
Brigid Klein-Simpson says she used to have a rocky relationship with exercise because she didn’t feel comfortable going to the gym and working out with mostly men.
“I dropped out of it in college because I was just kind of intimidated to be around a group of mostly very good guys in the college gym,” Klein-Simpson said in an interview with CHEK News. “So finding a women’s gym was something that seemed really exciting, and now that I’m out, I understand why I felt uncomfortable at the other place.”
Bodyworks Fitness is a Parksville gym with two locations. One is co-ed and the other is ladies only.
Klein-Simpson says she was able to enroll at the women-only facility Bodyworks Fitness, where a trainer initially welcomed her to the gym.
“One of the coaches there greeted me and she was extremely kind and she could tell I was transgender right away and she said I would be welcome there and she specifically said I would be safe too, she even gave me a hug,” Klein said Simpson.
She said she signed her membership agreement on the spot and was back on Friday having a “great time” as she worked out for more than an hour. But days later, something changed.
“Then on Monday, I got a call from the same person who said, ‘We’re sorry, we made a mistake, you’re not actually allowed to be here, but you’re more than welcome to use the co-ed facility,'” Klein-Simpson recalled.
“I just hung up because I mean I was beyond devastated, there’s really no other word for it.”
She says she used to work out in co-ed gyms and never felt comfortable because the gym was mostly men.
“It was important for me to be in a place that would be like an explicit acceptance, like ‘you’re a woman, you have a right to be here,'” she said.
Dale Nagra, owner of Bodyworks Fitness, says Klein-Simpson is welcome to work out at the co-ed gym, but says other patrons of the women-only gym may not feel comfortable.
“We want them to be comfortable, but we also have to worry about the young girls that this gym is designed for and the women and how their parents will feel about them being there, then this guy walks in with a man’s voice and a big man,” Nagra said.
“So now you choose the comfort of the man who identifies as a woman … and then anyone can go in there and say, ‘OK, I identify as a woman and I want to be able to go in there.’ So do we choose the comfort of transgender people, and they may not feel as comfortable in a co-ed gym, but at least it’s an alternative, or do we choose the comfort of the young girls who work out there, who may not feel comfortable?”
A 2018 study by the Williams Institute at UCLA School of Law found that there is no evidence that allowing transgender people to use bathrooms that match their gender identity increases safety risks, and that reports of privacy and bathroom safety violations or changing rooms are “extremely rare. “
In fact, a 2021 study by the same institute found that transgender people are four times more likely than cisgender people to be victims of a violent crime.
Klein-Simpson says she understands that some people may feel uncomfortable at first if they’ve never met a transgender person before.
“But all it takes is education. Once you understand that trans women are women, trans men are men, non-binary people are who they say they are, it’s that simple,” she said. “If you’re still uncomfortable after that, that’s up to you, not me. I am what I am, it’s that simple. I just look different. That is all.”
Nagra says there are transgender patrons who use the co-ed gym in Parksville, and it is equipped with female, male and gender-neutral locker rooms.
“We already have transgender people here and all kinds of people, we’re not discriminatory at all,” Nagra said. “We have a minority staff, so we’re not saying there aren’t solutions, we’re looking for a solution and we’re not discriminatory people.”
Kelly Padden, British Columbia’s Parliamentary Secretary for Gender Equality, says situations like this highlight the importance of continuing to work to advance transgender rights.
“Trans people deserve to feel safe, welcome and validated for who they are. Trans women are women – period,” Padden said in a statement to CHEK News. “At a time when trans people are under increased attack around the world, it’s up to all of us to speak out and help break down the barriers that transgender people face.”
Klein-Simpson says she has contacted the BC Human Rights Commissioner and Alberni Valley Pride about the issue and hopes to find a solution.
“Even if it was allowed, I wouldn’t want to go back there, but it’s not so much for me, it’s for other people, because I’m sure that’s not the only person that this has happened to,” said Klein- Simpson.
“Even though I never set out to become an accidental activist or anything like that, I feel like maybe I have a certain responsibility because it happened to me, I have to make sure it doesn’t happen to anyone else.”
-With files from Kendall Hanson of CHEK
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