The Port Townsend CENTRUM Foundation has Spoken Out in support of the YMCA's Discriminating Decision to Ban an 80 year old Port Townsend Woman from the YMCA. Surprise Surprise.
Centrum is Not Supporting LGBTQIA+. Centrum is Supporting ONLY Trans Women’s rights by applauding the YMCA’s cruel, discriminating, bullying actions.
Centrum says they support individual rights, well not the 80 year old woman in this story, and with the proclamation by the city, well all those letters lost their rights and so did straight women, fathers, mothers and more.
HERE IS WHAT CENTRUM Said on their Facebook Page
“At Centrum, we affirm the right of every person to live as their fully authentic self. We value and celebrate the diverse identities – including the full spectrum of gender expression – that make vibrant connections and creativity flourish at Centrum and around the world.
We applaud the YMCA for standing strong by their employee and her rights. We appreciate her for providing childcare for our kids, a scarce resource for many in the community.
To the LGBTQIA+ community and allies in Port Townsend and beyond, and to everyone working for equity and justice, we are with you.
#porttownsend #lgbtqia #lgbtqarts #equality #equity #transrightsarehumanrights #ymca”"
Hey Centrum, and the YMCA, this LGBTQIA+ community member and my allies are NOT WITH YOU. We stand for PRIDE values of EQUALITY for ALL. And not just rights “especially” for some.
Centrum is Not Supporting LGBTQIA+. Centrum is Supporting ONLY Trans Women’s rights by applauding the YMCA’s cruel, discriminating, bullying actions.
Centrum says they support individual rights, well not the 80 year old woman in this story, and with the proclamation by the city, well all those letters lost their rights and so did straight women, fathers, mothers and more.
I am a Port Townsend Lesbian and I say it was not right what the YMCA did. We fought our entire life with the PRIDE movement for Equality. You post the Rainbow and LGBTQIA+ support, yet I am the L in this and I do not have equal rights. Even if I chose to not go to the YMCA, the City of Port Townsend has agreed, so no safe place for a Lesbian Woman's Rights.
The Port Townsend Centrum Foundation Uses Hashtags #equality #equity and yet there was NO equality or equity in what happened at the YMCA.
The Port Townsend Centrum Foundation Uses the Hashtag #transrightsarehumanrights, yes Centrum they are and so are Julie Jaman's rights Human Rights. Lesbian Rights are Human Rights. Women' Rights are Human Rights. Girls Rights are Human Rights. Fathers Rights are Human Rights. Mothers Rights are Human Rights. HUMAN RIGHTS FOR ALL may have been a better hashtag.
As a born biological woman, if that was me in the shower or coming out of the shower and I asked a trans woman with all their parts to leave my area, I would feel they should have left. Why would anyone, in that situation not honor the wishes of the naked woman coming out of the shower and leave the area?
The YMCA Treated Julie Jaman cruelly, they should have been kind, compassionate and provided non discriminating safety, support and comfort for ALL parties and not just the Trans Woman.
What the YMCA did is not what PRIDE Stands for.
Pride is Equality for ALL and not to give trans women more rights than women born as women, Biological Women.
PRIDE is about EQUAL Rights. What the YMCA did was NOT about Pride values Period.
This Incident at the YMCA had NOTHING TO DO WITH TRANS DISCRIMINATION. Keeping in mind the 80 year old woman did not know who was outside the shower. She was naked in the shower and heard a man's voice outside the shower. Her initial reaction was to a man's voice, sight unseen.
To me this Issue is about Equal Rights for ALL. Equal Rights for Personal Boundaries, the Right to Say No and not being forced into traumatic situations for ALL parties, and for our intuition to be heard and talked through.
The YMCA should have been ready for this, it was obviously going to happen. The YMCA acted badly period and put people in danger unnecessarily.
Centrum Says “we affirm the right of every person to live as their fully authentic self”. This is clearly a flat out lie aligning with the City and the YMCA and directly against “every” person in this issue living their authentic self. They are saying that ONLY trans women get to live “their authentic self”, get to be protected, feel safe, be heard and comforted, be protected from abuse. Just look online the Trans Women are bullying strait women, feminists, trans men, and lesbians in mass.
Centrum Says “We value and celebrate the diverse identities – including the full spectrum of gender expression” This is not true, they support the YMCA who clearly discriminated against Julie based on her diverse identity, and her gender expression. We fought for Equal Rights and so why are so many supporting this clear discrimination?
When Centrum says they “celebrate the diverse identities” they seem to mean Except Strait People, Woman born Woman, Rape Survivors, Sexual Assault Survivors, Childhood Abuse Survivors, Lesbians, Domestic Violence Victims and other “diverse identities” in the full spectrum of Equal Rights.
So Centrum STOP with your shenanigans of claims of supporting LGBTQIA+ with applauding the YMCA. Do you even know what all those letters stand for? I am a Lesbian Woman I am not some giant acronym I had no part of choosing. You don’t support me.
With these statements Centrum is in support of the Trans women who bully us, yell at us, taunt us, be near us naked even if we ask them to leave, force us to have them in our spaces, abuse us as lesbians online if we want to date same sex partners which is the point of being a lesbian.
If we are scared or uncomfortable at the YMCA we are gaslighted, bullied, defamed, hurled hate at and thrown out. All for speaking our truth, exercising our right to our sexual orientation be it straight or gay.
WE have a right to not want to be in a bathroom that is not same sex (born biology), a right to say NO to someone being near us while we are naked and a right to our intuition and if its wrong, be kind to the 80 year old. Give her equal dignity, listen to her side, respect and rights. The YMCA was Cruel, did not respect both sides and their actions have NOTHING to do with the behavior we fought decades and decades for with PRIDE.
Pride is ABOUT EQUALITY FOR ALL. All Means All.
LGBT Pride is the promotion of self-affirmation, dignity, and equality. We are now a community that has equal rights under the law so why force ourselves onto those with different beliefs, trauma, wants and needs, or fears? How is that ok? To me it is not ok.
Pride was a chosen word for a reason, as opposed to shame and social stigma, this was the LGBT rights movement, we finally won equal rights and now we lose them to men again and you support this? It is not ok for our community to now shame others and put social stigma onto them?
Why not want EQUALITY for ALL Community Members Centrum?
We as Gays and Lesbians have Equal Rights now as a matter of Law. And Same Sex Marriage is legal now. Why do we have to now take away the rights of others? Why are we again losing our rights to outspoken, aggressive, entitled men? That is not the point of PRIDE.
If you stand with the YMCA decision of INEQUALITY then you in NO WAY support the LGBTQIA+ Community. That is not our values, my value nor the thousands of Lesbians I have met over decades. I am sure many LGBTQIA+ Community members will stand with you, simply wanted you to know you don’t actually support us all.
No one should have something forced on them that traumatizes them. Both sides, not just one side. There has to be a better way than simply banning straight 80 year old ladies who want equal rights, or voice a fear or safety issue.
Can’t the YMCA communicate instead of bullying and ban? Perhaps you need better leaders. Ones who will provide safety, dignity, respect equally for all sides. A leader who would have easily calmed that situation such as I would have.
The YMCA staff was clearly mean to Julie Jaman in the least, they discriminated against Julie’s rights, her sexual orientation, her sex, her age, and human rights period.
The YMCA did not act in a professional manner, period. Someone like me would have made both sides feel heard, and given action steps moving forward with strength and dignity that supported BOTH sides and NOT just ONE side. The YMCA blew this issue up by not treating both sides of this traumatic incident equal, Period.
Would Centrum be ok if I identify as a man and shower with the men there? Would these same council members and Centrum spokespeople be ok if this happened to them? Man or Woman. Trans Man or Trans Woman. Think about it. What would you want to have happened to you? How would you have wanted to be treated if you did not want me seeing you naked coming out of the shower?
The YMCA’s actions were not OK, and nothing to do with Equal Rights, PRIDE or “the right of every person to live as their fully authentic self”, which Centrum disingenuously proclaimed.
Centrum are you looking at this issue from any side but politics?
It is NOT ok what the YMCA did nor what the City of Port Townsend did after, they made RIGHTS “especially” for trans women, as trans men don’t act like this so no issue there. And by act like this I mean want to be seen in the locker room, want to force us to see them in a locker room when we are naked, not walk away when asked to leave personal space, run over boundaries, force themselves on people who don’t want them there when they are naked.
Many Lesbians and Bisexuals in your (LGBTQIA+) have had sexual child abuse, have been victims of sexual assault and or domestic violence where an unexpected deep voice or naked man or man near them naked is traumatic. There are women who are lesbians because of rape or abuse from a man. You are saying we have no equal rights to safety, protection?
Victims of Child Abuse may trigger at a man with children. Is the YMCA answer to bully, berate and ban them or calm them, talk it through and provide a feeling of safety? There was NO professionalism, no nurturing, no love, no dignity and respect for all sides. The YMCA did not act appropriately and is on the wrong side of the moral compass. The YMCA has viciously divided our community unnecessarily.
The YMCA decision means that if we feel off for any reason, if our intuition says something is off or there is danger and we try and tell them about it, they will gaslight us, call us transphobes, call us bigots, they will ban us, then bully us, get others to bully us and call us all manner of hateful untrue names. If Julie was wrong about her intuition then bully her? Berate her? Ban her? Why not sit down and talk about it? Why not show some compassion for women, for older women who may not understand 2022 talking points? Why not dignity and compassion for BOTH sides?
The YMCA Decision means for men and women that if there is a Trans Woman or Trans Man near them in the locker room when they are naked they, YOU, have no right to ask them or demand they leave your space. Your Boundaries and Discomfort simply do not matter or exist. And if you sense danger or are scared you will be gaslighted, called crazy, called transphobic bigots, called hateful and banished. They call this PRIDE, they call this Dignity and Equality for all. It is NOTHING to do with the Values of the Origins of PRIDE.
Posted here by Reverend Crystal Cox, Bringing Back Godddess Church, a Lesbian Woman who is a10 year Resident of Port Townsend Washington.
#LetJulieSwim #PortTownsend Port Townsend Washington YMCA Transgender Incident. David Faber Port Townsend Mayor.