A 38-year-old bearded man was arrested last week in North Carolina on an indecent exposure to a minor charge after allegedly claiming to be a woman and stripping completely naked in a Planet Fitness women’s locker room, ABC affiliate WSOC-TV reported on Wednesday.
Christopher Allan Miller allegedly took advantage of Planet Fitness’ policy that allows members to use locker rooms, bathrooms, and showers based on their “gender identity” and entered the women’s locker room at the gym’s Gastonia, North Carolina, location. He then allegedly disrobed and asked a woman to rub lotion on him and shower together before one woman called 911, sources told WSOC-TV.
“It’s a man but he says he identifies as a woman, and he won’t leave the restroom. But he is just walking around showing us his — and he won’t leave,” a woman told the dispatcher.
Miller was booked in the Gaston County, North Carolina, jail and identified as a male in his online inmate entry, The New York Post reported.
BREAKING: Male who identifies as female ARRESTED after stripping N*KED in a Planet Fitness women’s locker room.
“It’s a man but he says he identifies as a woman, and he won’t leave the restroom. But he is just walking around showing us his — and he won’t leave” a caller told… pic.twitter.com/bWMXwCteH5
— Libs of TikTok (@libsoftiktok) April 10, 2024
Betty Brice, a member of Planet Fitness, was outraged that a man could claim to be transgender and enter 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.
In a statement shared with The Daily Wire, Planet Fitness Chief Corporate Affairs Officer McCall Gosselin said, “At Planet Fitness, the safety of our employees and members is our top priority, and we have zero tolerance for harassment of any kind in our clubs. We took immediate action to ensure the safety of club members, including notifying and working with law enforcement.”
The incident comes a month after a woman said her Planet Fitness membership was terminated after she reportedly took a photo of a man in the women’s locker room.
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“I received a call this morning at 8:55 AM from Samantha at Planet Fitness announcing that they have chosen to cancel my membership rather than protect youth girls and women 12 years and older that enter the women’s locker room from men with a penis. Instead, they defended the man with the penis, who was shaving in the women’s locker room. Despicable,” Patricia Silva wrote on March 13.
A Planet Fitness spokesman defended canceling Silva’s membership, according to The Daily Mail, saying in a statement, “As the home of the Judgement Free Zone, Planet Fitness is committed to creating an inclusive environment. … Our gender identity non-discrimination policy states that members and guests may use the gym facilities that best align with their sincere, self-reported gender identity. The member who posted on social media violated our mobile device policy that prohibits taking photos of individuals in the locker room, which resulted in their membership being terminated.”
In a recent interview with Chaya Raichick, who runs the popular social media account Libs of TikTok, Planet Fitness founder and former CEO Mike Grondahl said the reports on the company’s policies in the past few weeks have “destroyed” it.
“Planet Fitness was like another child for me. And I put my heart and soul into building that company and it’s been pretty much destroyed in, ya know, it’s lost all respect within the country within the last couple weeks,” he said. “There’s no common sense standing behind this.”
Planet Fitness lost around 15% of its stock price within two weeks of Silva going public with her story about encountering a man in the women’s locker room.
This article has been updated to include comment from Planet Fitness.