Gyms Face Dilemma When Accommodating Transgender Clients

Earlier this year, Planet Fitness canceled a woman’s membership after she complained that a transgender woman’s presence in the locker room made her feel unsafe. The woman, Yvette Cormier, is now suing the gym chain. Planet Fitness says it was not her complaint that led to the decision, but her showing up three days in a row to warn other customers about “a man in the locker room.”

A UCLA study estimates there are about 700,000 Americans who identify as transgender. And as transgender people become more visible in society, businesses are increasingly facing tough questions about how to accommodate them.

Hilde Lindemann, a professor of philosophy at Michigan State University, and Jamie Nelson, a professor of bioethics at Michigan State University who is also transgender, join Here & Now host Jeremy Hobson to discuss transgender access to locker rooms and bathrooms.