Should a gym be allowed to ban gay families from using its pool?
A hot summer day, a swimming pool. A 2-year-old being told he can't go swimming because his dads are gay?
Will Trinkle
and Juan Granados say they applied for a family membership at the
Roanoke Athletic Club in Virginia, clearly listing themselves as
same-sex partners with a 2-year-old son, Oliver. Will says he was
encouraged to apply for a family plan by a club employee because only
children on family plan memberships are allowed to use the club pool.
But Will says that just 9 days after his application was approved, a club employee called to tell him it was a mistake, that
the club was revoking their membership because the state of Virginia
doesn't consider Will, Juan and Oliver to be a "real" family.
Mark Lynn Ferguson is a Roanoke native, and he's outraged by this alleged discrimination against Will and Juan's family.
The Roanoke
Athletic Club is owned by the Carilion Clinic, a company which owns and
operates 150 hospitals and medical clinics in Virginia, serving over 1
million people. "If Carilion won't give unmarried couples access to a pool, how will it treat them at a hospital?" Mark asks.
Will Trinkle
says that he was told by a Roanoke Athletic Club employee that "they
were 'tightening policies' so no families like us would ever 'get as
far' as we had." That's why Mark thinks it's so important to
send Carilion's leaders a strong message right now, before policies are
changed and more families face discrimination.
"Folks
in Roanoke are good hearted and fair minded, so I was just horrified
when I heard how Carilion treated this family," Mark says. Mark thinks
that if enough people sign his petition, Carilion's leaders will see
that people in Virginia and around America believe that all families
deserve to be treated equally, married or unmarried, gay or straight.
though this was interesting. Should make for some interesting comments...If you owned a gym with a swimming club pool...would you allow gay couples and their children to join....? What do you think about this situation at a gym with a swim club at Roanoke Va?
Top Opinion
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carlton999 2012/07/04 04:42:40
the average conservative is against gays and even a bit racist.
Liberals are not hung up on gays and race...but have to live in Country filled with conservatives that still wants these things to keep going... that is kinda what this Swim club shows...
The courts are even more supporting of business owners and their assets in these situations. Would you prefer a system set up to force business owners to take on clients against their will like they are so fond of doing in China and North Korea?
The beauty of the american capitalist system is that it operates on a voluntary basis between consumer and business owner, not a compulsory one. This is not an issue that has anything to do with gay really, and everything to do with the protections for business owners to reserve their right to refuse service to anyone.
Sure, I will admit it is a story that is more interesting to some people's agenda because it involves gays, minorities, {insert ostracized group here}, but it ultimately fails the legal practicality litmus test.