A Seattle court has ruled that a female-only nude spa lacks the “constitutional right” to bar males from their facilities. The decision comes after the spa sued the Washington State Human Rights Commission (WSHRC), which had forced them to change their sex-exclusive policy due to the complaint of a transgender patron.
Haven Wilvich had sought a membership at the Olympus Spa in January of 2020, but had been denied on the basis that he had not undergone “gender reassignment” surgeries and his penis was fully intact.
In the complaint, Wilvich alleged his application to use the facilities at the spa had been rejected after staff told him that “transgender women without surgery are not welcome because it could make other customers and staff uncomfortable.”
Sun Lee explained that Olympus was a “family-owned women’s Korean traditional health spa” and noted that that nudity was required for certain procedures.
“We firmly believe it is essential for the safety, legal protection, and well-being of our customers and employees that we maintain adherence to this adaptation of a females-only rule,” Sun Lee wrote, also providing education on the cultural traditions of the jjimjilbang.
But a Washington District Court dismissed their lawsuit on Monday, upholding the ruling by the WSHRC and affirming that the measures taken to prevent the spa from having a female-only policy were lawful.
Prior to his transition, Wilvich also sat on the board of the Seattle Nonbinary Collective, and described himself as a “a tall, bearded, transfemme, King County native.”
In 2018, Wilvich was featured on a Futurism podcast wherein he lauded the idea of trans-identified males being given uterus implants for the purposes of giving birth.