A young boy with two gay dads will now be allowed to swim in a Virginia health club pool after a Change.org petition went viral, garnering as of this writing almost 80,000 signatures in a few days — and escalating by the thousands every few minutes. As The New Civil Rights Movement reported Tuesday, a same-sex couple who have a two-year old son had been denied access to the Roanoke Athletic Club‘s swimming pool, which is owned by the regional Virginia medical provider, Carilion Clinic, which revoked the membership of the family after they realized the family was headed by two gay dads.
The petition, by LGBT activist Mark Lynn Ferguson, noted that two men, Will Trinkle and his “partner Juan Granados wanted to take their 2-yeard-old son [sic] Oliver Trinkle-Granados to the gym’s outdoor pool during the summer months.”
Only children on family memberships are allowed to use the pool, so Trinkle signed up for a family plan. His application was accepted and processed, clearly listing him, his same sex partner, and their child as members.
Nine days later, a representative from the gym contacted Trinkle and told him that his application was processed by mistake. According to Trinkle, the representative said that the company was “‘tightening policies’ so no families like us would ever ‘get as far’ as we had.†The representative went on to claim that Roanoke Athletic Club is following Virginia state law, which does not recognize same sex marriage.
Now, just moments ago, Change.org wrote via Twitter that “The Carilion Clinic announced they will change their family policy so children with gay parents can swim in the pool!”
The couple had announced a lawsuit against Carilion Clinic:
Carilion Clinic, no doubt besieged, just two hours ago posted an updated definition of what constitutes a family, although did not go so far as to call a same-sex family a “family,” rather, they are now a “household.” on their Facebook page:
Dear RAC/BAC members,
We want to let you know that the Roanoke and Botetourt Athletic Clubs are making a change in our membership guidelines. We will be distributing an email blast to all members, but because the change is important and effective immediately, we are sharing the news on Facebook as well.
Since opening our doors over three decades ago, we have always strived to provide the very best in service, programs, and staffing. Our goal has been, and always will be to encourage and inspire health and wellness among all members of the communities we serve.
In keeping with this goal, and in recognition of the many contemporary households that can benefit from our facilities through discounted membership fees, we are pleased to announce that we have expanded our Family Membership into a new Household Membership with the following criteria:
Household Membership:
A household consists of a primary member and up to one additional household member that permanently lives in the household, and any of their dependent children under the age of 22 who also reside in the household on a permanent basis.
Club dues will not change; dues for the Household Membership will be the same as the Family Membership it is replacing. There is no requirement to amend your membership, but should this change be advantageous to you, please contact our sales office. If we may answer any questions, do not hesitate to contact us.
We thank you for your continued patronage and will never take that for granted.
With sincerest thanks,
Bud Grey, VP, CC