Transgender complaint at rec center has no factual basis

Jul. 24—A brouhaha on social media about a man identifying as female using the woman's locker room at the Waynesville Recreation Center has caused quite a stir on social media, but a statement released by the town said the Facebook post was based on false information.

Last Tuesday, the Waynesville Police Department began investigating a report of "inappropriate behavior" at the rec center. Town Manager Rob Hites released a statement Sunday evening outlining the steps taken in the investigation of the social media post and another complaint, and cited the town attorney's conclusion there is no evidence any town policy was violated or any criminal activity occurred.

This came after a Facebook post from a local youth pastor caused a tsunami of Internet outrage. The post stated that his teenage daughter and young niece went to the recreation center to swim. It states that afterwards his daughter told them that "a FULL GROWN MAN" went into the women's locker room and changed into a bikini.

On Sunday night, Waynesville Police posted a statement composed by the town's attorney, Martha Bradley. The statement said that the transgender woman in question had used the family locker room, the pool and the sauna, but surveillance footage showed no indication that they had entered the women's locker room at any point.

The family locker room includes three changing areas with floor to ceiling concrete walls and floor to ceiling wooden doors, meaning no one could have witnessed someone else changing inside one of these stalls, even by accident.

"Based on the investigation of WPD and Town staff, the allegations in the July 12 Facebook post cannot be verified," Bradley indicated.

Later in the statement, this point was reiterated.

"Based on the information gathered during the investigation and my review of the applicable statutes and case law, no unlawful conduct occurred at the WRC on either July 12 or 18, 2023," the statement read. "Absent a new complaint to WPD providing additional information concerning the identity of the minors or adult females involved, the claims made in the Facebook post have no factual basis."

The July 18 incident mentioned in the statement complaint submitted to police from an adult woman that said that the transgender woman had entered the sauna in a two-piece bathing suit and that the complainant could see the outline of the transgender woman's genitalia.

It went on to state that during interviews in the investigation, it was determined that the two in the sauna had no interaction with each other and both remained "appropriately clothed."

"There is no evidence suggesting any violation of town rules, policy, or ordinance or any criminal act occurred at any time," the statement said.

At the time of writing, the original Facebook post had 120 comments and 76 shares. Two copy and pasted versions of the post had an additional 71 comments and 34 shares combined between the two.

The fabricated post seemed to stoke the flames of an already hot topic around transgender issues.

"If the law can't do nothing about these idiots then the redneck way will come," one threatening comment read. "They better have made plans at funeral home before I see it around my grandkids or any other female and kids. If anybody [sees] this individual or any like that please message me and I will leave work or [wherever] I am and come take care of this problem."

The statement also spoke about the legal standing of public restrooms. It pointed to Grimm v. Gloucester County School Board, a case regarding a transgender boy in Virginia who faced discrimination from his school district.

The U.S. District Court for the Eastern Division of Virginia eventually ruled in Grimm's favor, stating that the school district had violated Grimm's rights under the Fourteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution and Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972.

The ruling was later upheld by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit, which is where North Carolina sits. This means that the ruling is binding for the town.

The statement from the Town of Waynesville says that rulings have determined that discrimination against transgender people violates the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment "because such policies punish transgender persons for gender non-conformity, thereby relying on sex stereotypes."

"The Town has no lawful authority to impose any limitations or requirements on access to either by any person," the statement says.