Back in February, NBC News reported that since November of 2020 there had been at least 33 instances of violent intimidation and at least 21 incidents of bomb threats that could be directly linked back to targets of the LibsOfTikTok Twitter account.
That number has basically doubled in the last month and a half, as rabid followers of the account have inundated Planet Fitness locations all around the United States with bomb threats. Why? Because they have a trans-inclusive locker room policy that allows people to use the changing room that aligns with their gender identity and these bigots have nothing better to do.
This all started when a female member at the Planet Fitness location in Fairbanks, Alaska, took a picture of someone she believed was a man shaving in the women’s locker room and sent it in to Libs of TikTok along with a video about how mad she was that this happened.
Unsurprisingly, the woman’s membership was terminated swiftly afterwards, because while Planet Fitness is not going to police anyone’s gender, they’re sure as hell not going to let anyone take pictures of people in the locker room.
I can tell you there are signs up in my gym saying that you can’t have any camera or recording device in the locker rooms, in the pool or in group classes. There is no reason to not be aware that this is not allowed, and there’s no special policy exclusion for “But what if I really want to harass and attempt to publicly humiliate transgender people?” If she were to make a habit of this and Planet Fitness knowingly let her continue, they could be held liable.
But this really set off the creeps. On April 5, Media Matters reported that about 17 Planet Fitness locations had received bomb threats, including:
In addition to the Fairbanks, Alaska, location that reported a threat on March 15, at least four locations in Providence, Rhode Island, four locations in and around Jackson, Mississippi, “many” locations in Connecticut — including East Haven and Hamden gyms — and six locations in Wayne County, Michigan, have investigated similar threats since the campaign began.
As of April 8, the site reported 11 more credible bomb threats — 28 bomb threats in total. These people are losing their actual minds.
As an aside — one thing I’d really like to know is how do these people know that the person they are flipping out about was not a transgender man or nonbinary person who was assigned female at birth? They don’t. As far as they know, this person could be complying with their wishes!
That’s the problem with being caught up in a moral panic. You don’t think and you do stupid things that violate other people’s rights.
It really does seem like these people are going completely off the rails. Just yesterday I came upon a tweet from a self-identified TERF in which she asked other women like her to share what right they would give up to “end gender ideology.” Ten percent of the nearly 1000 respondents chose the right to vote.
That’s some very good radical feminism you’re doing there, ladies!
If I were a betting person, I would bet that we are going to see these sorts of threats continue to ramp up, because those who call in bomb threats are likely increasingly feeling like they are part of something bigger than themselves. They have convinced themselves that this is the biggest issue of their time and that they are heroes for fighting against it. And that’s what makes them dangerous.
I don’t know about you but I’m a hell of a lot more scared by bomb threats and concerned about a camera-wielding Karen in the locker room than someone sitting there and minding their own business. Because those things can cause actual harm to me and to others. Hopefully, Planet Fitness will not cave to their bullying like Bud Light did, because if they get the idea that this works in their heads, we’re all pretty screwed.
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