COLUMBIA, Mo. (AP) — A transgender woman’s use of the women’s locker room at a suburban St. Louis gym sparked an outcry, a plan for a boycott and calls for an investigation by the state’s politically vulnerable Republican attorney general, who quickly agreed.
The woman checked into the gym on Sunday, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported.
On Friday morning, a Republican state lawmaker held a press conference outside the gym and protesters gathered to criticize the facility, the newspaper reported.
“I’ve been approached by a lot of people,” Rep. Justin Sparks told The Associated Press on Friday. He held the news conference but said he had not organized any protesters. Sparks represents a House district that borders the gym.
Life Time spokeswoman Natalie Bushaw said the woman showed staff a copy of her driver’s license, which identified her as a woman.
AP requests for comment via Facebook to the gym member were not immediately returned Friday. She told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch that a woman approached her in the sauna Monday and told her she was a man and didn’t belong there.
“The Missouri Human Rights Act prohibits discrimination on the basis of sex,” Bushaw said in a statement. “Therefore, the member must use the women’s locker room at Life Time.”
Ellisville Police Capt. Andy Vaughn said the department received a report Friday of alleged indecent exposure at the gym that is under investigation. No charges have been filed.
Also on Friday, Attorney General Andrew Bailey announced he was investigating the gym and sent a letter warning Life Time that the gym’s policies “potentially enable criminal conduct.”
“As Attorney General, I will vigorously defend and enforce the laws of Missouri,” Bailey wrote. “You face both potential criminal and civil liabilities.”
Missouri has no law requiring transgender people to use public restrooms, and the state attorney general has limited authority to bring criminal charges, which is generally left to local prosecutors.
Bailey cited a 2015 Missouri appeals court ruling against a man convicted of entering a women’s restroom at a gas station.
In that case, the man barricaded himself in a women’s restroom at a gas station and smoked cigarettes for hours. He did not claim to be a woman or transgender, but he tried to hide his voice when staff asked him to stop smoking.
Employees called the police, who arrived on the scene and asked the man why he was in the ladies’ room.
“The appellant responded that he had to poop ‘really badly,’” the ruling said. He had lotion and a pornographic magazine with him.
Ellisville police said the agency is not investigating possible trespassing because the private gym allowed the member to use the women’s locker room. It is unclear whether a property owner could be prosecuted under Missouri law for allowing trespassing on his property.
Voters will decide Tuesday whether to elect Bailey, who was appointed by Gov. Mike Parson, to a new term or nominate Will Scharf, a member of former President Donald Trump’s legal team, as the Republican nominee.
In the state where the Republican Party has the majority, the winner of the primary has a big advantage in the general election in November.
