Parents Sound Alarm On YMCA Camps Allowing Boys In Girls’ Showers And Cabins

As kids prepare to head off to summer camp, a conservative group is warning parents that their daughters may not be safe at YMCA facilities across the country.

The American Parents Coalition on Wednesday urged parents to “beware” that the YMCA determines access to overnight cabins, locker rooms, and showers on the basis of gender identity. The coalition says that many YMCA facilities may not inform parents that boys could be bunking or showering with female campers, raising safety and privacy concerns.

“Parents deserve the truth — especially when it involves the possibility that their children could be put in a situation where they’re expected to share private spaces with members of the opposite sex,” American Parents Coalition Executive Director Alleigh Marré told The Daily Wire.

“Too many YMCA branches are putting gender ideology ahead of child safety by allowing locker rooms, showers, and cabins to become a free-for-all. This is unacceptable. Parents must question their local YMCA to ensure their child’s safety and advocate for sex-based spaces where they do not exist.”

Nationally, the YMCA recommends that “all campers and staff have access to the facilities aligned with their gender identity and comfort within facility and resource limitations.” The recommendations also suggest including transgender-identifying individuals in camp marketing.

YMCA camps and facilities across the country have adopted these guidelines, allowing females to be exposed to males in bathrooms or bunk with a person of the opposite sex. For example, Camp Olson in Longville, Minnesota, says access to facilities is based on gender identity, not sex.

“Access to gendered spaces (e.g. restrooms, overnight accommodations) should be based on gender identity. Sex assigned at birth, physical characteristics, or presentation should not dictate the use of gendered space. Trans individuals may select either restroom,” the camp’s guidelines say. “Requiring someone to use a bathroom or other gendered space of the gender they do not identify can be detrimental to an individual’s well-being and safety and puts Camp Olson at risk for discrimination complaints.”

The policy adds that if a female is uncomfortable using the same facility as a male identifying as female, then the female should use an alternate space, saying that “no one should be required to use an alternative restroom because they are trans.”

Rooming assignments at Camp Olson are also based on “gender identity,” with “requests taken into account for comfort and safety. All campers will be asked to select a cabin gender where they will feel most comfortable for that session upon registration.”

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The guidelines also stipulate that the camp does not need to inform parents if a camper decides to identify as transgender at the camp.

“If an individual comes out and/or chooses to be their authentic self at Camp Olson, this means they feel safe and brave enough to share a personal part of themselves that others may not see, understand or accept. It is crucial to note that an individual should not be outed without their permission, whether intentionally or accidentally, to other participants, staff, or their own families,” the camp says.

The Lakeland Hills YMCA in New Jersey, the Door County YMCA in Wisconsin, and the YMCA of Metropolitan Detroit have similar policies, the American Parents Coalition says.

The Door County YMCA says that all guests “have the right to use the locker room facilities that correspond with their gender presentation (physical presentation) AND gender identity.” The policy adds that those “who are not fully transitioned” should use the Universal Locker Room. The Daily Wire reached out for clarification on what “fully transitioned” meant.

Lakeland Hills YMCA says that its gender identity policy was adopted in part because of New Jersey state law. The New Jersey Law Against Discrimination bans most entities from requiring bathroom use to be dictated by sex, not gender identity.

The American Parents Coalition recommends that parents reach out to their local YMCAs to ensure that they are notified if their child may be forced to share a bathroom or locker room with someone of the opposite sex.

American Parents Coalition.

In recent years, the YMCA has seen controversy break out after customers have complained about the presence of males in female spaces. Julie Jaman, an 82-year-old woman from Washington, was banned for life from her local YMCA after she spoke out after seeing a man in the women’s changing area.

Jaman said that she saw a man watching two young girls. After complaining about the presence of a male in the female locker room, Jaman was told by pool staff that her language was “discriminatory” and was later blocked from ever returning. In an ongoing lawsuit, Jaman says that the facility violated her First Amendment rights to free speech.

Other incidents have occurred across the country, from Missouri to Ohio, where women and girls have complained about being exposed to naked males in the female locker rooms.