All In the Family

It’s been a long time since the hysteria of gays coming out of the closet has surfaced, and quite frankly, I thought most of us were pretty much over this whole issue. Live and let live. Heck, even the military was able to turn the other cheek about gays with its “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy.

But, as is life, not everyone is able to keep from criticizing, judging or condemning others whose behaviors and/or lifestyles are different from their own. Many business owners even feel the need to set policy that will force others to conform to their way of thinking. This has been, and is still, the case in the fitness industry.

Just recently, a suit was filed against the Rochester Athletic Club by a lesbian couple who share the same last name and are raising a daughter together. The suit claims that the couple was discriminated against when denied a family membership because the couple is not “legally” married. This is not the first time that this has happened in our industry. In January 2006, it was reported that a Detroit same-sex couple, together for 18 years, were considering legal action against the Warren Community Center in Warren, Mich., after being told that Michigan’s constitutional ban on gay marriage made them ineligible for a family membership. And, back in 2002, another same-sex couple raising a daughter together were denied a family membership at the YMCA of Middle Tennessee.

Is it right for fitness facility operators to decide what the definition of “family” is? If our industry’s goal is to make our society healthier, while at the same time reaping profits from it, should we care whether a family consists of two men or women versus a man and a woman? My vote is no.