An 82-year-old woman is demanding access to a local YMCA-operated pool after being banned from the facility for speaking out against a man using the women’s locker room, according to a letter obtained exclusively by The Daily Wire.
Julie Jaman, represented by the Center for American Liberty, wants an apology from the city of Port Townsend and the YMCA after she was banned from the Mountain View Pool in July 2022 when she voiced her concerns. Jaman said that the city and the YMCA violated her First Amendment rights and her right to due process and that she might sue if the ban is not reversed.
“I was showering in the women’s dressing room when I saw a man wearing a woman’s swimsuit watching little girls undress. I was obligated to speak up and ask for help,” Jaman told The Daily Wire. Since that moment, I have suffered mob-like attacks, public humiliation, and widespread mendacious reporting. If this had been the 17th century, I would have been burned at the stake. I have been active in this community for 40 years, and my hope is that my credibility is restored.”
The letter says that the city and the YMCA made defamatory statements about her after she was banned from the facility.
“Since her banishment, the City, in concert with the YMCA, has engaged in a high-profile smear campaign that has caused her severe emotional distress and has painted her in a false light within the community,” the letter from Center for American Liberty CEO Harmeet Dhillon, first obtained by The Daily Wire, said. “The City and the YMCA have continued to ban Jaman from using the Pool.”
According to the letter, Jaman said she was showering after swimming at the pool in July 2022 when she heard a male voice in the women’s locker room.
“When she pulled back the shower curtain to see who was there, she saw a biological male wearing a female swimsuit,” the letter continued. “The individual – later identified to Jaman as ‘Clementine Adams’ – was watching two young girls who appeared to be about four to six years old as they were preparing to use the toilet.”
Jaman asked Adams, “Do you have a penis?” to which Adams replied, “None of your business.”
After complaining about the presence of a male in the female locker room, Jaman was told by pool staff that her language was “discriminatory.”
The man in the locker room was an employee of the YMCA who identifies as transgender. Jaman says she believed that she had witnessed a crime because of his presence in the women’s locker room near the two girls.
The letter said that Jaman went to the police station to file a report after the confrontation and that police later followed up to investigate the YMCA’s accusations against her.
The Center for American Liberty added that the city and the YMCA inappropriately took sides against Jaman before investigating the incident.
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“When an 80-year-old woman reasonably believes she is witnessing a crime against minors in a women’s showering area, the government’s reaction should be to gather all of the facts and learn what happened, not take sides in an ideologically charged debate,” the letter says. “The City and the YMCA plainly have strong feelings regarding the presence of transgender individuals in private areas. So strong, in fact, that they support allowing adult biological males watch young girls while they undress in the Pool locker room.”
Dhillon’s letter says that the ban on Jaman must be reversed, the city and the YMCA must offer a formal apology, and she must be paid $350,000 for emotional distress caused by the incident. Port Townsend and the YMCA have until March 27 at 5:00 p.m. PST to respond to the letter, or they could face a lawsuit.
“Jaman simply wants to return to the Pool she has used for almost forty years,” the letter concluded. “She wants to continue recreating with her friends and fellow Pool patrons. She wants everyone at the Pool to feel safe and secure in sensitive places. And above all else, she wants her life back. The City’s refusal to allow Jaman to return to the Pool represents the sad reality of constitutional rights and public safety in Port Townsend. The City must make amends immediately to stop the ongoing harm to Jaman and to the community.”