The Springfield YMCA Typhoons Swim Team (SPY) in Springfield, Illinois now allows biological men who pretend to be women to enter the girls' locker room — including when minor girls are present and undressing. The coaches and YMCA administrators began this practice without telling any girls or their parents.
Here is an excerpt from a summary provided by the father of one of the girl swimmers at the center of what should be a shocking event:
On April 27, 2023, my sixteen-year-old daughter, a member of the YMCA SPY Swim Team, entered the girl's locker to change out of her swimsuit and noticed a couple transgender individuals sitting in the locker room. My daughter went back out on the pool deck and informed the head swim coach, Alex Totura, of the situation and he responded to her by stating, "There's nothing I can do about it."The swim coach Alex Totura and YMCA administrators colluded to keep the sexual integration of girls' private spaces secret from minor girls, hurled at her the ugly and false allegation that signs about women's rights are hateful, and then expelled her from the team. They should all apologize to the brave swimmer and lose their jobs. After he apologizes, maybe Totura could explain how the fact that cross-dressing men have been around for a long time is relevant to allowing them to use women's private spaces. And maybe he and the YMCA administrators can explain what this Illinois law — the Illinois Human Rights Act — means:
On May 10, 2023, the SPY Swim Team held their monthly parent meeting where the issue of girls' locker room use by biological males was brought up. The meeting was attended by Angie Sowle, Chief Executive Officer of the YMCA. The parents were told there's nothing that can be done about it.
Parents asked if the YMCA could ask the transgender members to use the Family Changing Area (private bathrooms with toilet, sink shower and changing area) instead of the girl's locker room. The YMCA staff said they could not do that because it is discrimination and against the law.
After the Parent Meeting, my daughter, her mom, and another swim mom approached Ms. Sowle and Coach Totura. My daughter said that she didn't understand why this is happening and asked how long the YMCA knew about this. Coach Totura laughed and stated, "transgender people have been around a long time." My daughter then stated, "That is not the question I asked." She asked the question again and Ms. Sowle responded, "We have known for a while."
A meeting was set up by the YMCA staff for parents to attend and voice their concerns regarding this matter. The meeting was to take place on May 18, 2023, and the YMCA Administrative office. Without reasonable notification, the YMCA canceled the meeting about two hours before it was to take place.
Feeling dismissed without resolution, my daughter and one teammate hung signs in the girl's locker room on May 23, 2023 in support of their position. My daughter's signs read "Women's Rights," "Biological Women Only," and "Safe Sport."
On May 24, 2023, at the beginning of the normal swim team practice, coach Totura and Kenzie Primus, Branch Director of the Kerasotes Branch (westside) pulled all the girls aside for a meeting to discuss the hanging of the signs. They indicated that this was not acceptable, and it was "hate speech." My daughter approached the coach Totura immediately after the meeting and indicated that she was involved in the hanging of the signs. She said that she did this because her previous attempts to correct this were dismissed by the YMCA staff and her coach. Coach Totura said that this was hate speech; she was not allowed to participate with the swim team; and was asked to leave the pool area.
775 ILCS 5/5-103) (from Ch. 68, par. 5-103) Sec. 5-103. Exemption. Nothing in this Article shall apply to ... Facilities Distinctly Private. Any facility, as to discrimination based on sex, which is distinctly private in nature such as restrooms, shower rooms, bath houses, health clubs. (emphasis added)The Illinois Freedom Caucus and the family involved are having a press conference on this outrage at 1 PM on Thursday July 13 at Rotary Park in Springfield, Illinois. Let's hope and pray that there are as many courageous community members — including pastors, coaches, and lawmakers — in attendance at this press conference to publicly support these brave families as there were at the Wheaton Park District Board of Commissioners meeting.
Athletic clubs, park districts, and public schools led by sheeple and cowards who self-identify as leaders are denying common sense, science, decency, safety, and basic human rights in deference to a nonsensical and dangerous ideology. They care more about money, power, and reputation than they do about truth and protecting women and children.
Either bodies matter or they don't. If objective physical embodiment as male or female matters, then the sexual integration of spaces in which unrelated people undress is ignorant and evil. If objective embodiment as male or female does not matter, there remains no reason to maintain any sex-segregated spaces anywhere for anyone.
And if objective physical embodiment as male or female matters — which it does — then the intrinsic right of girls and women to be free of the presence of men in their private spaces should not be abrogated to satiate the disordered desire of some men to be women.
On its website, the Springfield YMCA Typhoons proclaims, "USA Swimming's top priority continues to be keeping our athletes safe. No form of abuse, including child sexual abuse, has a place in our sport."
Clearly, that is not USA Swimming's or the Typhoons top priority. No organization whose top priority is keeping athletes safe would allow adult men to be present where minor girls or adult women may be undressed, showering, or going to the bathroom. Every decent adult knows that.
It is traumatizing to children who have been sexually abused to see the exposed genitalia of opposite-sex persons. It is traumatizing to boys, girls, and women who have been sexually assaulted to be seen undressed by strangers of the opposite sex. It is distressing to most people — including those who have never suffered abuse to engage in personal acts in the presence of opposite sex person. And despite what "trans"-cultists and their allies claim, cross-dressing men do commit crimes, and some predators will pretend to be "trans" to more easily access their prey.
We look back at malign events in history and wonder how rational people could have held such ignorant, evil ideas; engaged in such ignorant, evil acts; or remained silent while ignorant, evil ideas and actions metastasized. We marvel at heroes and martyrs, hoping and believing we would have been among them. And yet here we are today, with women's sports being destroyed, girls' and women's privacy rights being eradicated, and minors' healthy bodies being ruined, and most of us say and do nothing.
Fortunately, we do have heroes today, people like these two young girls and their families and former Division I swimmers like Riley Gaines and Paula Scanlan. Isn't it remarkable, though, how few men are coming to the defense of women and children?
Once upon a dark day in America, evil lies about race were systemically affirmed, and as a result, men, women, and children suffered grievously. Today, another dark day in America has arrived. Evil lies about sex are systemically propagated, affirmed, and celebrated in the halls of Congress, in our schools, in our park districts, in our professional medical and mental health communities, in our arts and entertainment, in our news media, and in our sports.
This is not a right vs. left issue. It is a human rights issue that crosses political boundaries. The end game for "trans"-cultists and their cowardly collaborators is the eradication of all public recognition of and respect for sexual embodiment. Who will stand for truth?
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