Young Woman Stands Up Against Men in Women’s Locker Rooms
A story out of a San Diego suburb demonstrates that heroic bravery is not the sole province of adults. In late December, 17-year-old Rebecca Phillips was changing clothes after swimming laps at the Santee YMCA when she saw a naked man — who claims he’s a woman — in the shower room. Terrified, the young woman did what any young woman would probably do in that situation: She hid behind a flimsy shower curtain in the shower until the man put his clothes on and left the shower room.
The next thing she did was not something just any young woman in that situation would do: She reported the incident to the front-desk staff. It did not go well. The staff — appearing annoyed — told Rebecca that the “woman” had a right to use the women’s shower room. The San Diego County YMCA director of membership went so far as to tell Rebecca’s father that she “was not in any danger at the time of the incident” — that she was “safe.”
About two weeks later, Rebecca courageously shared her account before the Santee City Council. She told them that while hiding in the shower stall waiting for the naked man to leave and fearing for her safety, she thought of her young sister. She teared up as she said, “I could only think of my five-year-old sister who I bring to this gym during the summer to enjoy their water slides,” adding, “This is the YMCA, where hundreds of children spend their summer afternoons in child care camps. This is the YMCA where my little sister took gymnastics lessons. The locker room was supposed to be her safe haven to gossip with her friends and shower and change.”
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