From Xtra Ca: http://www.xtra.ca/blog/national/post/2013/01/18/Chicago-Trans-man-files-complaint-against-spa.aspx
BY NATASHA BARSOTTI
Friday, January 18, 2013
A transgender man has filed a discrimination complaint against a Chicago, Illinois, spa after its manager told him he couldn’t use the men’s shower area, according to a report in The Windy City Times. 
Levi Pine alleges that King Spa & Sauna’s management told him he’d have to use a private shower or leave after questioning him about his gender, the report says. Pine reportedly told the manager — who gave Windy Times only his first name, John — that he didn’t want a private shower and could use the same facilities as the other customers, but he was informed that other customers had complained.
Pine says he told John that he felt discriminated against. “Just because some people who go there are uncomfortable with my body shouldn’t change what I have to do and shouldn’t change my rights as a customer,” he told the Times. He says he’s angry about the situation but feels it was “an opportunity to have dialogue that wouldn’t have happened otherwise.”
The spa manager says he can’t see a better solution other than offering Pine a private room. “The naked man in the women’s spa: that is equal? I don’t think so.”
American Civil Liberties Union lawyer John Knight thinks Pine’s case has merit, and so does Joanie Rae Wimmer, the lawyer who handled the first successful transgender case under the Illinois Human Rights Act, Windy Times notes.
Complete article at: http://www.xtra.ca/blog/national/post/2013/01/18/Chicago-Trans-man-files-complaint-against-spa.aspx
