The American Parents Coalition has asked the Trump administration to investigate the YMCA over allegations of “unlawful gender-based discrimination in its programs and policies.”
In a letter to Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., Secretary of Education Linda McMahon, and Housing and Urban Development Secretary Scott Turner, Alleigh Marré, executive director of the American Parents Coalition, stated that the YMCA has been adopting policies that disfavor young girls.
“The YMCA’s policy of disfavoring and imperiling young girls and favoring and empowering those who choose to present as a gender other than their own is antithetical to the principles of federal civil rights law and gender equality,” the letter said.
“It is morally wrong and legally impermissible,” Marré added.
According to Fox News, an archived page dated July 3, 2017, of the YMCA’s website was titled, “How to Create a Safe Space for LGBTQ+ Campers.”
“Ensure all campers and staff have access to the facilities aligned with their gender identity and comfort within facility and resource limitations,” the page said while also recommending that youth development professionals “use gender-neutral (or self-identified) pronouns when referencing guardians/parents, partners, families and significant others.”
It also called upon professionals to “lift up stories of LGBTQ+ inclusion in trainings, marketing, and camp activities.”
Another archived page dated June 7, 2022, also called upon the YMCA to unite people “no matter their ability, age, cultural background, ethnicity, faith, gender expression, gender identity, ideology, income, national origin, race or sexual orientation.” However, the current YMCA website states that the “Y is made up of people of all ages, from all backgrounds, working side-by-side to strengthen communities. Together, we work to ensure that everyone has the opportunity to reach their full potential with dignity.” It also says the organization’s “core values are caring, honesty, respect, and responsibility — they guide everything we do.”
The American Parents Coalition further claimed that the YMCA is violating Title IX, as it receives over $600 million in government grants.
“There is little room for interpretation where the law is so explicit,” the letter said. “This broad prohibition underscores the law’s role in eliminating gender-based barriers to women’s equal participation in all aspects of programming and activities, providing for ‘the women of America something that is rightfully theirs—an equal chance. The YMCA’s policies permitting biological men to invade the sanctity of spaces set aside for women undoubtedly violates this law.”
The letter highlighted instances at several YMCA locations wherein women were forced to share facilities with men.
“One such instance was in Kansas City, Missouri, where a biological male is being accused of allegedly exposing themselves to a seven-year-old girl while she was with her mother at a YMCA in North Kansas City,” per Fox News.
“It also mentions a 2022 incident where a 17-year-old girl claimed she saw a transgender woman changing in a women’s locker room at a California YMCA,” it added.
