The owner of a St. Catharines fitness club says he has opted to go to a Human Rights Tribunal of Ontario hearing in a dispute initiated by a transsexual.
The complaint alleges John Fulton denied a pre-operation transsexual access to the women’s only areas of his gym.
The transsexual — now a woman — was a man at the time of the incident two years ago.
Following a closed-door mediation hearing yesterday in Toronto, Fulton said he has opted to go to the tribunal rather than settle.
Fulton says he wasn’t sure what to do when the pre-op transsexual applied to join because his female clients might not be comfortable with a man in their changing room.
Fulton said it all started when he decided to open a women’s only section at his fitness club. A few days later, a woman came in, filled out all the paperwork and just before signing said she was a man, he said.
