Washington Spa Petitions Supreme Court Over Transgender Access Ruling
Olympus Spa, a women-only Korean day spa in Lynnwood, Washington, has petitioned the U.S. Supreme Court to overturn a Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals ruling. The ruling mandates that the spa must accommodate transgender individuals, specifically males who identify as women, in its nude, female-only communal areas. This legal challenge originated from a 2020 complaint filed by a transgender woman who had not undergone gender-affirming surgery and was denied admission. Attorneys representing the spa, from the Alliance Defending Freedom and Pacific Justice Institute, argue that the spa's policy is rooted in religious beliefs and traditional cultural norms regarding modesty, asserting that men and women should not be unclothed in each other's presence unless married. The Washington State Attorney General's Office, which represented the Washington Human Rights Commission in the initial legal challenge, has affirmed its intention to continue defending the state's anti-discrimination laws before the Supreme Court. 
