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Protests erupt after Lynnwood spa ruling
Opposing demonstrators separated by police left the steps of the Lynnwood Convention Center peacefully Saturday afternoon.
LYNNWOOD, Wash. - Opposing demonstrators separated by police left the steps of the Lynnwood Convention Center peacefully Saturday afternoon.
Saturday’s protest organized by the group "Sovereign Women Speak" was met with roughly double the number of counter demonstrators supporting transgender rights.
"Now we have men coming into our spas and women are horrified," said organizer April Morrow said.
Her protest organized in response to a Washington District Judge’s motion to dismiss a lawsuit filed by Olympus Spa in Lynnwood, which affirmed an earlier decision that the spa had discriminated against a transgender woman.
A King County woman said she was bombarded with hate messages and even death threats from around the world after court documents revealed she filed a complaint with the Washington State Human Rights Commission against a spa in Lynnwood.
The lawsuit doesn't actually name Haven Wilvich as a defendant, but it is connected to a complaint Wilvich filed in 2020 after she said she was denied access to Olympus Spa in Lynnwood. Wilvich says the spa had an issue with her not having undergone gender-affirming surgery at the time she called three years ago. But according to Washington State Law, she had a right to be there.
State law has affirmed it is illegal to discriminate on the basis of gender identity or gender expression since 2006.
PREVIOUS COVERAGE: Trans woman faces hate messages, death threats after identity revealed in Olympus Spa lawsuit
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In response to the planned protest, Olympus Spa closed for the day and barred their front entry, while private security stood outside.