YMCA of Springfield officials say “untrue statements” have been made online that a child was inappropriately exposed to male genitalia in a Y locker room by either a transgender female or a man pretending to be transgender.
“These statements are false,” the nonprofit organization said in a news release June 2. “Any report of this nature would have been documented to authorities for investigation. The YMCA takes the protection of children very seriously.”
The YMCA has received no such reports from any victim or victims of inappropriate conduct, YMCA marketing and communications director Lou Bart told Illinois Times.
The news release, as well as a similar statement emailed to YMCA members, were prompted by “a swirl of unfounded rumors on social media, starting two weeks ago,” Bart said.
The release said the YMCA is “an inclusive organization proudly open to all” and that transgender members are protected by Illinois law that says they may use the restroom and locker room “of the gender in which they identify.”
The YMCA, which operates a downtown location at 601 N. Fourth St. and the Kerasotes branch at 4550 W. Iles Ave., would be illegally discriminating against transgender people if they were required to use specific private changing rooms, according to the release.
Bart wouldn’t speculate on the origin of the rumors. But Destiny Church Springfield, 1425 N. Sixth St., posted an image on its Facebook page June 1 that portrays parents using an umbrella labeled “#CommonSense” to shield their children from a rainbow described as the “woke agenda” of Springfield YMCA.
Accompanying the image is a statement that says: “If a pervert, or stalker, or a person who’s wanting to be a voyeur – or worse – wanted to see little girls in the shower room, they could simply say, ‘I feel I’m a different sex,' and could walk right into the YMCA’s shower room and be a ‘Peeping Tom’ or worse yet, expose themselves to these children. This is wrong and the people of Springfield need to stand up and tell the Y, ‘Enough, stop it or you’ll no longer have our support.’”
The post tags the YMCA’s Kerasotes site and encourages people to call the YMCA to “voice your opinion” and call for “no transgenders in the shower rooms.”
Destiny Church’s Facebook page also contains a video of a recent sermon by the Rev. Eric Hansen, the church’s pastor, in which he encourages members of his congregation to phone the YMCA and voice their displeasure.
Hansen spoke from the pulpit about a situation in which “you’re out at the YMCA and your daughter has to go to the bathroom, and she walks in the shower room to use the restroom, and there is a biological man fully undressed, right in front of your 7-year-old daughter.”
The Christian preacher then said: “It’s happening here in Springfield. Yeah, it’s come to Springfield. And I think that’s wrong, and I think the church has a place to say that that’s wrong.”
However, it’s unclear whether the scenario Hansen described actually took place.
He presented no evidence, including a time frame or names of those involved. He didn’t say whether the alleged victim was someone in his family, a member of his church or someone he knows or has spoken with.
Bart wouldn't comment about the posts on Destiny Church's Facebook page or Hansen's statements.
Hansen, 60, who started Destiny Church in 2017 after leaving iWorship Center, previously known as the First Assemblies of God Church, didn’t make himself available for an interview but said in an email to Illinois Times that he “may be able to make more comments” in coming days.
Addressing his congregation, Hansen said during his recent sermon that people who don’t complain to the YMCA are “part of the problem, and you ought to get your head screwed on straight, because if this doesn’t make you mad and infuriate you, then your heart is seared, you’re troubled in your heart and your spirit, and you really ought to have a come-to-Jesus moment. There’s no reason a grown man should undress in front of your 7-year-old daughter.”
Hansen and Destiny Church are driving forces behind the Frank and Linda Vala Dream Center of Sangamon County, a new nonprofit educational center on the former campus of Benedictine University in Springfield.
The YMCA news release said the Y is the community’s largest youth service organization and has served Springfield-area children and families for the past 150 years.
“Safety is always at the core of what we do at the YMCA,” the release said. “We have a series of measures in place designed to protect all who are in our buildings and programs. Entry to our buildings is allowed only to documented members and guests, so we always know who is at our Y. We are committed to providing a place where people feel connected and secure.”
With assets of $29 million and annual revenues of $19 million before the COVID-19 pandemic, the Springfield YMCA served more than 13,000 youths in 2021, according to the Y’s website and the organization's most recent IRS Form 990. Bart said the Y has more than 20,000 members.
The Y provided almost $414,000 in financial assistance in 2021 so people could benefit from a membership or participate in a YMCA program, the website says.
The organization’s mission is “to put Christian principles into practice through programs that build healthy spirit, mind and body for all.”
This isn’t the first such controversy to confront YMCAs across the country, but discrimination laws can vary state by state.
Jonna Cooley, executive director of the Phoenix Center, a Springfield nonprofit at 109 E. Lawrence Ave. that supports the LGBTQ+ community in central Illinois, said the YMCA is “definitely doing a great job” in dealing with the recent criticism.
“They’re doing everything they can to be open and supportive,” she said, adding that she has conducted training among the YMCA’s staff in the past 12 months about LGBTQ+ issues.
Cooley, who has a doctorate degree in psychology and a master’s in counseling, said transgender people “are going to be the most modest people in the locker room.
“Nobody is going to do something to ‘out’ themselves,” she said. “You’re trying to fly under the radar.”
The Facebook postings by Destiny Church and Hansen’s statements are trying to take advantage of false views of transgender people, who represent less than 1% of the population, Cooley said.
“People equate being transgender with being mentally ill,” she said. “People are just assuming that because you’re a trans person, you’re a pervert or a pedophile … If you’re not transgender, you’re very unlikely to say you’re transgender.”
Dean Olsen is a senior staff writer at Illinois Times. He can be reached at [email protected], 217-679-7810 or twitter.com/DeanOlsenIT.
