A Sikh man in Canada has received an apology from a national gym chain after he says he was forced to leave one of its clubs for wearing a kirpan, a ceremonial article of faith.
Gurpartap Singh Sangha filmed the encounter inside a GoodLife Fitness location in Windsor, Ontario, a city situated just across the Detroit River from the US-Canada border.
Sangha later shared the footage with his 21,000 TikTok followers, where the video quickly drew widespread reaction and debate, amassing 2.2 million views by Wednesday morning.
Text placed over the clip accused the gym worker of having “racially singled out” Sangha. In the video, Sangha can be heard challenging the decision, asking whether he was being removed because staff feared he would use his religious symbol to harm someone.
The employee responded by saying that Sangha had what appeared to be a weapon on him and that another member had raised concerns. “For the safety of me and everybody else in the gym, I’m asking you to leave,” the staff member said.
Sangha replied that he did not understand the reasoning. The employee then said the fitness club was private property and that staff had the authority to refuse entry or access to patrons.
A kirpan is a ceremonial dagger worn by baptized Sikhs as part of their religious obligations and is considered an essential symbol of the Sikh faith.
In 2006, the Supreme Court of Canada ruled that kirpans are protected religious symbols and must be reasonably accommodated in public spaces such as schools, courthouses and legislatures, provided they remain sheathed and measure no more than 23 centimeters, or nine inches, in total length.
Canadian Sikh Gurpartap Singh Sangha recorded himself getting kicked out of a GoodLife Fitness gym in Windsor for wearing a ceremonial kirpan knife. He is pictured in the video
The gym chain apologized to Sangha privately through email as well as in public statements to the media. The Sikh man is pictured with his kirpan strapped over his torso while shirtless
‘The interaction shown in the video reflects a situation where our established practices were not applied as intended. We have reached out directly to the individual involved to address this matter,’ Matthews said.
‘We comply with all applicable government legislation, including Canadian human rights laws.’
A separate statement Matthews shared with the Daily Mail stated that the employee Sangha was speaking to in his video was not fired, despite online rumors to the contrary.
‘No one has been, nor will be, terminated as a result of the interaction in our Windsor club,’ she said.
‘GoodLife Fitness provides a welcoming and safe community, and we will continue to strive to maintain that environment for everyone who comes to our clubs.’
Sangha told CTV News that he also received a personal emailed apology from GoodLife Fitness, which he said he accepted.
Though he added: ‘GoodLife should also be educating their workers on different faiths. So that’s what I strongly advise.’
Some members of the gym chain and many users online believe that the staff at the gym were right to kick out Sangha for wearing the kirpan
Although GoodLife apologized to Sangha both publicly and in private, some people do not believe that the gym was wrong to have kicked him out initially.
A member of the gym named Samar Houad told CTV News: ‘I’m not sure if that’s a safe environment. Not that the person was going to do anything, but I just felt like maybe that’s not really the safe place to bring something like that.’
Her son, Noah, told the outlet: ‘If I were to see that, I would have been a bit alarmed.’
Users online expressed their discontent as well. The majority of the comments on Sangha’s video sided with the employee he was arguing with.
Sonduren Fanarredha, who has hundreds of thousands of followers across social media sites, posted a TikTok saying he canceled his GoodLife Fitness membership, and he called on others to do the same.
He alleged that the knife Sangha was carrying was not truly a kirpan. ‘I just can’t accept the fact that you have allowed and bent the knee over to someone who literally brought in a large hunting knife,’ Fanarredha said.
‘Nine inches. This is not a kirpan. This is a hunting knife,’ he continued. ‘You need to put safety regulations in place for the safety of all of your members. There should be no reason a knife this large comes into the gym and people feel unsafe.’
Fanarredha added that ’99 percent’ of Sikhs carry small kirpans that they tuck into their clothing, which would be fine to accommodate, but the gym has set a dangerous precedent by allowing someone to carry a nine-inch weapon.
