A Washington judge has ordered a women-only spa to accept transgender women who still have penises — even though all of its customers are naked.
Seattle District Court Judge Barbara Jacobs Rothstein on Monday upheld a discrimination ruling against Olympus Spa filed by local trans activist Haven Wilvich, who claims to be “more woman” than many feminists who’re “only incidental.”
The traditional Korean Spa had maintained that its “women-only rule … is essential for the safety, legal protection, and well-being of our customers.”
It willingly accepted transgender women — but “only if they have ‘gone through post-operative sex confirmation surgery,'” the ruling noted.
Wilvich, however, “‘identifies as a woman’ but ‘is biologically male and has not undergone sex reassignment surgery,'” the court papers said — noting that the spa never had a record of the activist ever actually going there.
Wilvich first complained in February 2020, and the Washington State Human Rights Commission (WSHRC) later agreed that the Korean spa discriminated against Wilvich based on “sexual orientation.”
“I did it!” Wilvich had posted at the time, celebrating getting “the main naked lady spa in the area to change their policies and allow all self-identified women access regardless of surgery and genitals.”
Wilvich also bragged about being “more woman” than TERFs, the snub meaning Trans Exclusionary Radical Feminist.
“I’m more woman than any TERF will ever be because I am an intentional woman whereas they are only incidental,” the activist wrote amid the ongoing legal tussle.
In her ruling, Rothstein noted how the WSHRC defines “sexual orientation” as including those whose “gender identity, self-image, appearance, behavior, or expression is different from that traditionally associated with the sex assigned to that person at birth.”
Spa owner Myoon Woon Lee sued to reverse the decision, saying it defied his “traditional, theologically conservative” Christian values and put his clientele at risk.
Lee — who has owned the spa for 20 years — also “conveyed his fear that exposing female customers (especially minors) to male genitalia could subject Olympus Spa to criminal penalties.”
There had been “several” incidents where customers “noticed male genitals exposed ” in the spa — creating “humiliation, trauma, and rage,” a complaint by the owner said.
“Those patrons apparently demanded refunds and never returned.”
Lee claimed that the disrcimnation policy “requires them to service nude males and females in the same rooms,” forcing them to “choose between violating the law or their religious convictions,” his complaint said.
One regular customer who backed the lawsuit described herself as a Christian who “believes that men and women should not be viewing each other’s naked bodies unless married to each other.”
However, WSHRC investigator Madison Imiola maintained that banning trans customers like Wilvich was descrimination.
The commission “does not use genitals to define gender identity and . . . recognizes that a person’s gender identity can be different from the biological sex assigned to that person at birth,” the paper stated.
“However, Olympus Spa’s ‘biological women’ policy focuses on the genitals of patrons rather than allowing transgender women to access your facilities based on their gender identity.”
The judge gave Olympus Spa 30 days to file an amended complaint to her order dismissing its lawsuit to overturn the ruling.
Wilvich is an “activist focused on Trans Healthcare Disparities,” according to an earlier interview.
“It wasn’t until I was 25 that I began to realize that my gender and sexuality could be expressed more authentically,” said the activist.
The activist — who “grew up in a very isolated conservative Christian community” — had been married at the time, but the union ended because “she reacted very poorly and wanted me to stay closeted.”
Wilvich’s social media pages appeared to have been deleted or made private Friday. The spa did not immediately return a request for comment early Friday.
