Planet Fitness stock dropped by over seven-and-a-half percent Tuesday after the company revoked a customer’s membership for taking a photo of a biological male in the women’s locker room in Fairbanks, Alaska, in early March, according to a video the customer shared to Facebook.
Planet Fitness revoked Patricia Silva’s membership after she took issue with a man shaving in the women’s locker room, she claimed in the video.
“I just came out of Planet Fitness, and there is a man shaving in a women’s bathroom,” Silva says in the March 11 clip. “I realize he wants to be a woman, he gets to be a woman, I love him in Christ. He’s a spiritual being having a human experience. He doesn’t like his gender, so he wants to be a woman, but I’m not comfortable with him shaving in my bathroom,” (RELATED: The New Normal: Women At Planet Fitness Have To Accept Biological Men In Locker Rooms)
“Woman in Planet Fitness claims she went into the bathroom and this man who thinks he’s a woman was in there shaving,” Libs of TikTok tweeted March 12.
Why does @PlanetFitness allow men to use the women’s bathroom and invade women’s private spaces?? pic.twitter.com/qVJ0YUFQvc
— Libs of TikTok (@libsoftiktok) March 12, 2024
Silva posted another update the next day, claiming she confronted the man because there was a young girl “kind of freaked out that there’s a man shaving in her locker room.”
“Well I was offended, I took a picture of him and I asked him ‘Why are you there? You are a man with a penis, why are you in the women’s locker room?'” she said in the video. “And he justified by saying ‘I’m queer LGB.'”
— Libs of TikTok (@libsoftiktok) March 14, 2024
She then claimed that her membership had been cancelled.
“Planet Fitness is defending the man in the women’s locker room, the man with a penis, rather than the child sitting in the corner with a towel wrapped around her,” Silva said in the video.
Planet Fitness’ stock (PLNT) dropped by as much as 7.8 percent on Tuesday, going from its opening price of $59.44 to a five-month low of $54.80. It has rebounded slightly to $56.86 as of press time.
Planet Fitness defended its deicsion to stand by the man, who they identified to Fox News Digital as transgender.
“As the home of the Judgement Free Zone, Planet Fitness is committed to creating an inclusive environment,” Planet Fitness chief corporate affairs officer McCall Gosselin told Fox. “Our gender identity non-discrimination 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.”
After the story broke, #BoycottPlanetFitness trended on Twitter, according to Libs of Tik Tok. (RELATED: Bud Light Sales Tank Another 26% After Dylan Mulvaney Disaster)
The stock of Bud Light’s parent company, AB InBev, plummeted after the brand partnered with transgender influencer Dylan Mulvaney. Pepsi Co., the owner of Doritos, also saw its stock tumble after Doritos Spain partnered with a trans influencer who had a history of posting vaguely pedophilic tweets.
Both companies’ stock prices have largely recovered since they cut ties with the influencers who prompted the backlash, though Bud Light’s sales numbers are still down nearly 30 percent compared to last year, according to Fox Business.