By Rebel News | Created at 2024-11-30 00:14:34 | Updated at 2024-12-04 19:18:48
4 days ago
Angie Tyrell, a concerned mother and citizen, can no longer remain silent after being chastised for not being “inclusive” enough after she reported a frightening incident at Saanich, BC’s Commonwealth Place swimming pool in July.
According to Reduxx, which first broke the story after interviewing the mother and obtaining email exchanges between Tyrell and the local public pool’s administration, the distressing incident began when her then 10-year-old daughter and 11-year-old friend ran toward her from the women’s shower room to report that a grown man, wearing a sparkling pink bikini with frills and tiaras on it, was showering in their space.
“There was a man in the shower with us,” Tyrell reports the girls whispered to her in fear before she guided them to change in nearby women’s bathroom stalls.
But the terror didn’t stop there. According to Tyrell, the 6-foot, hairy-chested man exited the women’s shower area and entered the communal women’s bathroom. A teenage girl, caught off guard with her top off, then quickly covered herself and scurried away. Other women, some with children, also appeared visibly uncomfortable and hurried to leave the area.
After ensuring her daughter and friend were safe, Tyrell promptly approached the recreation center’s front desk to report the man causing fear in the women’s changing room. However, she claims staff dismissed her concerns, even given the man’s disturbing appearance.
Emails shared by Tyrell shed more light on the facility’s stance. Bree Dobler, the assistant manager of the facility, initially replied to Tyrell’s concerns by focusing on the man’s childlike bikini.
“While the District of Saanich welcomes and celebrates diversity, and we encourage visitors to our Recreation Facilities to use the restroom or changeroom with which they identify and where they feel most safe,” Dobler wrote. “All patrons are expected to respect the privacy and identity of others and wear appropriate attire for swimming as outlined in our Code of Conduct. … Should it assist with your comfort on your next visit, we do have the option of universal or single stall washrooms or changerooms for patrons with concerns for their own modesty or want to maintain more privacy.”
Tyrell responded, saying, “I don’t think it’s right that a man’s wish to ‘feel most safe’ in women’s only spaces should be deemed a higher priority than the legitimate physical and emotional need for women and girls to actually be safe. Why should all of the women—who the women’s change facility is for—have to leave to accommodate a man?”
Dobler’s next responded more sternly in stating:
“…everyone’s gender identity and expressions are valid. Everyone is welcome in our centres in the changeroom where they feel most safe. Gender expression and identity is protected under BC’s Human Rights Code and we are proud to have a Diversity in Changerooms Policy in our centres,” she wrote. “There is no evidence to support that providing diversity in changerooms has increased incidents or safety of others. … Our goal is to create an inclusive environment where everyone feels respected and valued.”
Tyrell’s next response went unanswered, “I see where you’re coming from now. You actually believe that the 6-foot-tall muscular man with a hairy chest and back who took a shower with my 10-year-old daughter was a woman because he was wearing a bikini. That is magical/religious thinking.”
Tyrell’s efforts to defend a safe space for women and girls and the shameful response she received bear similarity to at least two other frightening incidents that also took place on Vancouver Island.
Last year, Janayh Wright, a Nanaimo mom, caught a man wearing a wig peeping under the local pool’s women’s changing stall where her 9-year-old daughter was changing. When confronted, the man arrogantly responded, “It’s my right.” After reporting the incident to Nanaimo Aquatic Centre staff, Wright says she was met with hostility, with staff even suggesting they’d call the police if she continued to raise concerns.
BREAKING: Woman appears to be assaulted after man threatens to identify as a trans woman, after allegedly being naked in the ladies changeroom in Duncan BC’s Cowichan Recreation Centre.
Conforming details. More to come at https://t.co/Gi9Wj4L06E pic.twitter.com/jdEQQWYXDk
Earlier this year, a 10-year-old girl was allegedly hit in the head after an adult family friend confronted another man who was causing fear in the women’s changing area at the Cowichan Aquatic Centre.
BREAKING: Woman appears to be assaulted after man threatens to identify as a trans woman, after allegedly being naked in the ladies changeroom in Duncan BC’s Cowichan Recreation Centre.
Conforming details. More to come at https://t.co/Gi9Wj4L06E pic.twitter.com/jdEQQWYXDk
When confronted, the man didn’t even claim to identify as transgender but instead said, “I can identify as a bearded woman if I want and there is nothing you can do about it.”
While BC’s NDP Premier David Eby has remained silent on these concerning incidents despite public outrage, BC Conservative Party leader John Rustad took to social media to condemn how Tyrell and the pre-teen children in her care were treated. Rustad also shared a post from Harry Potter author J.K. Rowling, who expressed similar outrage.
In British Columbia, grown men should not be allowed to shower with 10 year old girls in the change room of a local public pool.
This should not be a controversial statement — frankly, it’s unsettling that people are defending this creepy behaviour. #bcpoli https://t.co/k4QedeaHst
“In British Columbia, grown men should not be allowed to shower with 10-year-old girls in the changing room of a local public pool. This should not be a controversial statement—frankly, it’s unsettling that people are defending this creepy behaviour,” Rustad wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter.
Rebel News reached out to Commonwealth Place for further comment but did not receive a response before publishing.
Drea Humphrey
B.C. Bureau Chief
Based in British Columbia, Drea Humphrey reports on Western Canada for Rebel News. Drea’s reporting is not afraid to challenge political correctness, or ask the tough questions that mainstream media tends to avoid.
