“The YMCA faces a choice. It can restore policies that protect women and girls, rebuild parents’ trust, and align its practices with the law as interpreted by the highest court in the land.”
The American Parents Coalition (APC) is calling on the YMCA to revise its policies regarding transgender individuals in locker rooms, bathrooms, and sports, arguing the organization’s current policies are inconsistent with recent Supreme Court rulings in Title IX.
In a letter addressed to the YMCA President and CEO Suzanne McCormick, as well as the board of directors, APC urged the organization to amend its policies that allow transgender-identifying people to use bathrooms, locker rooms, and participate in sports that align with their so-called gender identity. Under the current policy, biological males may use female-only spaces.
The request comes after Supreme Court decisions issued at the end of June that ruled states are permitted to limit biological men from competing in women’s sports, and that the word “sex” in Title IX refers to biological sex, not gender identity.
"The Supreme Court has now made clear that biological sex is the legally operative distinction under Title IX," the letter stated. "The YMCA faces a choice. It can restore policies that protect women and girls, rebuild parents' trust, and align its practices with the law as interpreted by the highest court in the land."
APC has repeatedly challenged the YMCA’s transgender policies. It filed Title IX complaints last year with the Departments of Education, Health and Human Services, and Housing and Urban Development, and has argued that the organization has violated civil rights law. APC has also called on Congress to investigate the YMCA’s policies and federal funding.
The YMCA has 2,600 locations nationwide and receives over $600 million in government funding each year.
The issue gained renewed attention last month after members at a YMCA facility in San Francisco raised concerns about a biological male using the women’s locker room. In response, the facility merely updates guidelines by saying nudity should be "discreet, limited, and brief" and that members should respect the personal space of others.
“The Supreme Court has drawn an unmistakable line by reaffirming that Title IX's protections are rooted in biological sex," said American Parents Coalition Executive Director Alleigh Marré in a statement, according to Fox News. "The YMCA has ignored parents' concerns for far too long while maintaining policies that undermine the privacy, safety, and fairness Title IX was enacted to protect. The Court's decisions should serve as a wake-up call for every federally funded institution."
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