When Patricia Silva spotted a man shaving in front of a female child in the locker room at a Planet Fitness in Fairbanks, Alaska, she approached the individual and suggested he use the men’s locker room. Of course a disagreement ensued, at which point Silva got her phone out to expose the creep (without the nudity of course); shortly after the confrontation, Silva found herself banned from the gym, with managers filing a police report against her.

When Silva’s story went viral, the company doubled-down on backing the pervert, and in the wake of the decision, Planet Fitness has lost around $400 million in stock value. Here’s the story, from a report published at the Daily Mail yesterday:

Planet Fitness’ valuation has plummeted $400 million in five days after they banned a member who shared a photo of a ‘trans woman’ using a female locker room.

The company’s value dropped from $5.3 billion on March 14 to $4.9 billion on March 19, and its shares are down by 13.59 percent compared to a month ago.

The decline follows Planet Fitness’ refusal to walk back its decision to ban a member who exposed a ‘trans woman’ shaving in a female locker room earlier this month.

According to an article at The Advocate:

A spokesperson for the gym recently defended the decision to the Daily Mail, maintaining that not only did Silva violate Planet Fitness’s policy on mobile devices in locker rooms, but that ‘discomfort is not a reason to deny access.’

‘As the home of the Judgement Free Zone, Planet Fitness is committed to creating an inclusive environment,’ they said. ‘Our gender identity nondiscrimination policy states that members and guests may use the gym facilities that best align with their sincere, self-reported gender identity. The member who posted on social media violated our mobile device policy that prohibits taking photos of individuals in the locker room, which resulted in their membership being terminated.’

Now for those of you who don’t know, one facet of that “Judgement Free Zone” ethos is what Planet Fitness calls the “Lunk Alarm” which is an actual siren that goes off for intimidating (male) behavior: grunting, dropping weights, wearing a tank top while muscular, or drinking water out of a gallon-size water jug.

Planet Fitness, where “lunks” are more intimidating than grown men bombarding into the women’s locker room. pic.twitter.com/aqIs4kqqKt

— Olivia Murray (@americaliv1) March 21, 2024

(A “Lunk Alarm” but no “pervert in the women’s bathroom” alarm? Go figure.)

Yes, no judgment indeed… unless you’re one of those detestable “lunks” then by all means, judge away, because he’s a subhuman monster who deserves to be mocked and ridiculed for how he dresses, what kind of container he uses for his water, and for pushing himself on his last set of chest presses.

So why does Planet Fitness have the Lunk Alarm? Well, it’s a public shaming device, set off by an employee as a deterrent to get the “lunk” to stop with his offending behavior, whatever it may be. Yes, seriously; here’s what the PF website has to say about it:

The Judgement Free® policy is put into place in order to help maintain a Judgement Free® environment within the club at all times.

By Planet Fitness® definition, a Lunk® is one who exhibits behaviors that work against our Judgement Free® atmosphere. Lunk-like actions are often intimidating to most members who just want to get in a good workout. While we welcome everyone, we are built on the premise of no intimidation.

Lunk-like actions include behaviors such as:

Grunting - Excessively loud displays of effort including grunting, yelling, groaning

Dropping weights - Intentionally dropping weights to the ground after the last rep of a set

Showcasing - Flexing, strutting, or making an effort to attract attention

Judging - Mocking, criticizing, or making negative comments related to another person's appearance, experience, ability, knowledge of equipment, etc.

The Lunk Alarm® is a siren used to enforce our Judgment Free® policy. The Lunk Alarm® helps maintain a Judgement Free® atmosphere by stopping a Lunk® in his/her tracks.

Apparently the gym wants to prohibit “intimidating” (male) behavior as it can be unsettling to those “who just want to get in a good workout.” Huh, is that so…. What about the little girl cowering in the corner while the grown man shaved his who-knows-what at the sink? The little girl that Patricia Silva was trying to protect? I wonder if she felt “intimidated” by his presence? What about Silva? A hulking male with an obvious mental disorder, violating a female’s personal and private space? As a not-very-big female myself, that sounds about as intimidating as it gets. (In fact, the establishment ran a whole marketing campaign on “No Gymtimidation” which apparently isn’t universally-applied.)

And, “showcasing,” or “making an effort to attract attention” is also undesirable behavior? Well by golly, that is the LGBTQ++ attitude to a T.

Furthermore, this is an accepting space, which means “mocking… another person’s appearance” is not allowed, unless of course, you’re mocking a lunk’s appearance. (I mean you can’t even make this stuff up; the irony is heavy.)

Planet Fitness has an alarm to shame men from exhibitinh too much male dominance while working out, but men forcing themselves into women’s private spaces and intimidating them there is just fine, and no cause for alarm.

Drop a weight or drink from a gallon jug? You can be sure an alarm will go off. Your 13-year-old daughter is leered at or sexually assaulted in the locker room? No alarm will be going off. Seems a little backward, wouldn’t you say?

God bless Patricia Silva.

Image: YouTube video screen grab.