Transgender woman’s use of locker room at gym sparks outcry

ELLISVILLE — A transgender woman’s use of the women’s locker room at an Ellisville fitness center has drawn an outcry from a state lawmaker, who is asking for investigations, and other conservatives who took to social media to voice outrage.

There’s no indication that Eris Montano, 52, of Chesterfield, has violated any laws or the polices of Life Time fitness center. But state Rep. Justin Sparks, R-Wildwood, said he’s heard enough complaints from constituents that he’s calling for investigations and holding a press conference Friday outside the gym.

Sparks said concerns over Montano’s use of the locker room generated an unprecedented level of response from his constituents.

“People are very upset by this,” he said. “Everybody wants to know, ‘Why is this person not being arrested? Why is this person being allowed into the locker room? How is this happening?’”

Montano has been a daily gym-goer at Life Time since joining Sunday. She said in an interview with the Post-Dispatch that she met with the general manager on Sunday because she wanted to know the center’s policies regarding transgender members.

Montano said she began transitioning about two years ago and has been taking medications for the past 12 months.

She said she has largely had positive interactions with other gym members. She met with a personal trainer, swims in the facility’s pool and uses the cardio workout equipment. Many people have gone out of their way to make her feel welcome, she said.

The lone exception, she said, was a confrontation with a woman in the center’s sauna on Monday.

“She kept telling me that I was a man, that I didn’t belong there,” Montano recalled.

After a tense back-and-forth, Montano said, she tugged at her bikini top to show part of her breasts to the woman and demonstrate “that I am a real woman.”

After the exchange, Montano went to the manager. She then learned that the club had received other complaints about her use of the women’s locker room. Life Time’s members are assigned to locker rooms based on the gender listed on their state-issued photo ID.

Montano, who said she had undergone several surgeries as part of her transition, is now listed as female on her Missouri driver’s license. She provided a copy of the license to the Post-Dispatch for verification.

Natalie Bushaw, a spokesperson for Life Time, said the center recognizes “that there are varying opinions regarding locker room access. As a company, we are committed to following the law in every area we operate with respect to public accommodation.”

She added: “Life Time is committed to providing safe, welcoming and respectful environments. To the extent we receive reports of conduct inconsistent with our club policies, we review and address them.”

Ellisville Police Capt. Andy Vaughn said the department is not investigating.

“To my knowledge, no law has been broken,” he said. “No victims have come forward saying that this individual has exposed themselves, and Life Time is not requesting that this person be removed from their property.”

Call for state investigation

Sparks said he wants the Missouri Department of Revenue to investigate how, and when, Montano’s driver’s license was changed.

“If our Department of Revenue is allowing people to subjectively change their license information, then we need to know about it,” Sparks said.

He said he also reached out to Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey for an investigation. Bailey’s office did not respond to interview requests.

Sparks on Thursday posted a nearly six-minute video on Facebook voicing his complaints. In response to Sparks and others on social media, some Life Time users said they were canceling their memberships and encouraged others to boycott the center, saying it needed “the Bud Light treatment,” referring to the backlash the beer brand received after a promotion involving Dylan Mulvaney, a transgender woman.

Montano on Facebook referenced the press conference Sparks is planning, saying a “mob of hateful people” would appear to “show me how much they hate me for existing as a trans woman with rights.”

Bathrooms and gym locker rooms have become frontlines in the ongoing culture wars over transgender rights in Missouri and the United States. At least 10 Republican-controlled states, such as Kansas, have imposed strict bans on transgender access to bathrooms that align with their gender identity, if not their gender at birth.

In Missouri, state lawmakers enacted laws last year banning gender-affirming care for minors and prohibiting transgender girls and women from participating on female sports teams.

Bailey also sued the Wentzville School District last year for its discussions on accommodating transgender students’ bathroom needs.

Last year, library patrons at the St. Charles City-County Library complained about the attire of a library employee they say was wearing nail polish, makeup and a goatee. That sparked a months-long debate over a gender-neutral dress code for library employees and the banning of LGBTQ-related books that some parents thought were too sexually explicit for a public library.

“Nobody wants to attack this person or cause any harm to them,” Sparks said. “This is about me wanting to make sure that my constituents know that if they use Life Time’s gym, their daughters and wives may be showering next to” Montano.

The showers in the locker room are single-person stalls, and each stall has a frosted-glass door. In addition, Montano said, she drapes her towel over the door to the shower. She said she only changes clothes in the single-person dressing room stalls within the locker room.

“I’m not there to see anybody else,” Montano said. “I am there to change clothes, and get the heck out of there.”

Editor’s note: This story has been updated to correct Montano’s transition timeline, and the status of the gym’s shower stalls, which are not lockable. 

St. Louis Post-Dispatch photographers captured June 2024 in hundreds of images. Here are just some of those photos. Edited by Jenna Jones.



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