"This is a case about swinging ****** s," wrote Judge Lawrence VanDyke of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit in March. "You may think that swinging ****** s shouldn't appear in a judicial opinion. You're not wrong. But as much as you might understandably be shocked and displeased to merely encounter that phrase in this opinion, I hope we all can agree that it is far more jarring for the unsuspecting and exposed women at Olympus Spa—some as young as thirteen—to be visually ****** aulted by the real thing."
VanDyke was dissenting from the 9th Circuit's decision not to revisit Olympus v. Armstrong, a case that saw an all-female Korean spa sue on First Amendment grounds. The business, according to the Washington State Human Rights Commission (WSHRC), had broken the law when it declined to accept a preoperative transgender woman. This was a problem for Olympus Spa, which requires nudity in its pool area, and whose business model, relatedly, hinges on catering to a single-sex clientele.
In ruling against the business last year, the 9th Circuit acknowledged the thorniness of the case. "We are not unmindful of the concerns and beliefs raised by the Spa," wrote Judge M. Margaret McKeown. "Indeed, the Spa may have other avenues to challenge the enforcement action. But whatever recourse it may have, that relief cannot come from the First Amendment."
Olympus Spa is now taking its case to the Supreme Court. McKeown and VanDyke, whose vulgar approach elicited a rebuke from 27 of his colleagues, may appear irreconcilably at odds. In some sense, they are. Yet the rival sensibilities also help paint a more complete picture of a complicated case, one that naturally provokes strong reactions but for which there may be no immediately satisfying answer under the Constitution.
The ordeal traces back to 2020. Haven Wilvich, who has identified as a "nonbinary trans woman," lodged a complaint with the WSHRC after being turned away from the Olympus Spa location in Lynnwood, Washington, for having a ****** . (The spa says it accepts postoperative transgender women.) The Washington State Law Against Discrimination (WLAD) bars discrimination based on many characteristics, including ****** ual orientation, which the state defines as encompassing "heterosexuality, ****** ****** uality, bisexuality, and gender expression or identity."
#olympus #vandyke #state
VanDyke was dissenting from the 9th Circuit's decision not to revisit Olympus v. Armstrong, a case that saw an all-female Korean spa sue on First Amendment grounds. The business, according to the Washington State Human Rights Commission (WSHRC), had broken the law when it declined to accept a preoperative transgender woman. This was a problem for Olympus Spa, which requires nudity in its pool area, and whose business model, relatedly, hinges on catering to a single-sex clientele.
In ruling against the business last year, the 9th Circuit acknowledged the thorniness of the case. "We are not unmindful of the concerns and beliefs raised by the Spa," wrote Judge M. Margaret McKeown. "Indeed, the Spa may have other avenues to challenge the enforcement action. But whatever recourse it may have, that relief cannot come from the First Amendment."
Olympus Spa is now taking its case to the Supreme Court. McKeown and VanDyke, whose vulgar approach elicited a rebuke from 27 of his colleagues, may appear irreconcilably at odds. In some sense, they are. Yet the rival sensibilities also help paint a more complete picture of a complicated case, one that naturally provokes strong reactions but for which there may be no immediately satisfying answer under the Constitution.
The ordeal traces back to 2020. Haven Wilvich, who has identified as a "nonbinary trans woman," lodged a complaint with the WSHRC after being turned away from the Olympus Spa location in Lynnwood, Washington, for having a ****** . (The spa says it accepts postoperative transgender women.) The Washington State Law Against Discrimination (WLAD) bars discrimination based on many characteristics, including ****** ual orientation, which the state defines as encompassing "heterosexuality, ****** ****** uality, bisexuality, and gender expression or identity."
#olympus #vandyke #state
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