45.17% Find it Somewhat Acceptable That a Washington Spa Accepts ‘Only Biological Women’

Olympus Spa in Washington is a women’s only nude spa that has been ordered by the Seattle court to accept transgender women with male reproductive organs. This comes after a lawsuit was filed against the spa for discriminating against transgender women with male reproductive organs by denying entry into the spa.

This comes after Haven Wilvich, a local transgender activist, was refused to be accepted in the nude, women-only spa because only “post-op” transgender women (women after a gender-affirming surgery) are allowed. Wilvich filed a complaint citing discriminatory reasons.

The matter stirred debates about the treatment of transgender women in society, asking all women-only spas to accept transgender women. This probed Real Research, an online survey app, to conduct a survey on the Washington Court ordering women-only spas to accept Transgender women.

The survey specifically aimed at assessing public opinion about the incident concerning Olympus Spa and what respondents thought about women-only spas to accept transgender women.

Highlights:

Here are the key findings from the survey conducted:

• 45.17% believed that it was somewhat acceptable that Olympus Spa only allowed transgender women who have undergone gender-affirmative surgery
• 45.85% strongly agree with the Washington State Human Rights Commission’s  (WSHRC) order to remove the “biological women only policy”
• The owner of Olympus Spa, Myoon Woon Lee, sued to reverse the court’s decision, saying the court ruling defied his “traditional, theologically conservative” Christian values

The survey starts with a poll on respondents’ awareness of the Washington court ordering women-only spas to accept transgender women, including those who have male reproductive organs. 66% were reportedly aware of this, while 34% were unaware.

The next poll asked respondents’ stance on the Spa only accepting transgender women post-gender affirmative surgery. 45% found it acceptable, while 37% found it highly acceptable of the Spa’s rules. On the contrary, 12% and 6% found it unacceptable and highly unacceptable, respectively.

This signifies that a collective majority of 82% found it acceptable that Olympus Spa only allowed post-op transgender women. Much like the owner, Myoon Woon Lee’s conservative religious ideologies, a majority of respondents feel it is acceptable that the spa mandated post-op transgender women only.

Opinions about Gender Identity and Biological Sex Assigned

In another poll of the same survey, respondents were asked about their opinions of one’s gender identity and assigned sex. 33% feel one’s gender identity cannot be different from the biological sex assigned to them by birth. Followed by 33% who feel one’s gender identity can be different from the assigned biological sex. The rest, 34%, were unsure.

Likewise, another poll asked respondents for their opinions on whether allowing pre-op transgender women could harm other female customers, especially minors, as the owner, Lee, feared.

49% said this could definitely harm other female customers, while 39% said this is probable. 9% and 3% say it is probably not and definitely not possible for this to harm other customers, respectively.

WSHRC Intervening

While some felt that the inclusion of pre-op transgender women with male reproductive organs could harm some of the female customers at Olympus Spa, the Washington State Human Rights Commission (WSHRC) felt the contrary. More so, the WSHRC felt that Olympus Spa was discriminatory. However, 35% of respondents disagreed with this, while only 28% agreed. A majority, 37%, was unsure.

This was also followed by the WSHRC’s order to remove the ‘Biological women only’ sign in the spa, asking all women-only spas to accept transgender women. 46% strongly agreed with this, while 32% agreed with this.

On the other hand, 11% disagreed and 12% strongly disagreed with the WSHRC’s order.

Respondents’ Opinions About WSHRC Banning Olympus’ Sign Board

A collective 78% agreed with WSHRC’s order to remove Olympus’ ‘discriminating’ sign board because there was no evidence to support that transgender women’s bodies threaten cis-gendered (non-transgender) women’s safety and well-being (57%). Moreover, women being discriminated against based on their anatomy is gender-related discrimination (32%).

Additionally, the State does not use genitals to define gender identity, the term “biological women only” itself is discrimination (6%), and because WSHRC is a state agency responsible for administering and enforcing the Washington Law Against Discrimination (2%). 4% had others to say.

On the other hand, a collective 23% disagreed with the WSHRC’s order to remove the sign for several reasons; Olympus Spa shouldn’t allow trans customers with male reproductive organs to enter the spa for the well-being of other customers (36%), Olympus Spa shouldn’t allow trans customers with male reproductive organs to enter the spa for the safety and protection of other customers (35%).

Moreover, responses also suggest that Olympus Spa has the right to operate according to its own policies (15%), and 13% had others to say.

Was it Justified for Wilvich to File a Complaint Against the Spa?

Wilvich was denied entry into the women-only nude Spa in Washington, which was the reason she filed a complaint against the spa. When asked if it was justified to have done so, 36% found it unjustified that she did so, while 33% felt it was justified. 31% were unsure.

To add, Wilvich says, “If you reduce women to their genitals, then you are no better than the patriarchal culture that you are pretending to critique.” Respondents were asked if they agreed with this statement of Wilvich’s. 35% agree, 35% neither agree nor disagree, and 30% disagree.