"Editors Note: In the Free Press‘s ongoing efforts to expose censorship by local media, we are publishing a letter to the editor written to The Leader by long-time Port Townsend resident Julie Jaman. The letter, printed in full below, was submitted on July 28th following her experience at the Mountain View Pool, a City of Port Townsend facility operated in partnership with the Olympic Peninsula YMCA. The Free Press reported in detail on the episode the letter describes. Other information outlets have since picked up the story, including The Post Millennial, The Distance, and the feminist REDUXX.
Not only did The Leader not publish Jaman’s letter, Jefferson County’s weekly “newspaper of record” provided no coverage of any kind about this significant incident.
The violation of a biological woman’s right to privacy and her subsequent banning from the pool led to a police report, protests and counter-protests at the Mountain View Commons, as well as dozens of public comments at the August 1st Port Townsend City Council meeting.
Rather than publish Jaman’s letter and/or a news story, however, this week’s Leader featured a public relations article promoting the Y on their front page.
A call from Jaman to the editor was never returned, she says. Once again we see censorship by the legacy media in deference to local institutions and their biases.
Below is the letter The Leader chose not to print. The title was provided by Julie Jaman as part of her submission.
Men’s Eyes in Women’s Shower Room
Editor, The Leader
Showering after my swim at Mt. View Pool, I heard a man’s voice. Peeking out I saw a man in a woman’s bathing suit watching little girls pull down their swimsuits In order to use the bathroom. “Get out of here,” I said.
This is the incident that caused a Y staff person to condemn me as discriminatory and banned me forever from using the pool – the pool with binary changing areas that my family has supported and used for 35 years. I sense I have arrived at the center of this topsy turvy world.
There is no signage on the door informing pool patrons that men will be using the women’s shower/dressing room if they identify as women. There is no place at the pool for women and girls to use who do not want men watching while they shower and dress.
I spoke with a Port Townsend police detective and with the Y’s CEO, Wendy Bart. This, so far, is not a legal incident. However, the CEO provided some information of concern. Ms. Bart told me she assumes the posted “pride” signs indicating the Y welcomes all people are adequate for women to know crossdressers and men who identify as women will be using the women’s dressing/shower room. And she told me that it is the law not to discriminate against such people and that she was standing by her staff person’s decision to exclude me from the pool.
However, there is no way around discriminating against someone in this sex classification vs. gender identity issue when it comes to modesty, dignity and safety. Someone is going to be trespassed. This time it was me: the pool manager, with no inquiry for my well being or concern for what I saw and while I was still in the shower, told me I was discriminating against this man and booted me from the pool.
“Pride” signs act as a euphemism allowing men into the spaces women have always trusted as safe from the eyes of men. The Olympic Peninsula Y is remiss in not posting clear signage on the dressing room doors and for not providing a unisex or family place for those who want to mix it up.
Julie Jaman
Quimper Peninsula"
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