Mom raises concern about person peeping in Nanaimo pool locker room

Concerns over an alleged spy incident in a pool locker room prompted a gathering of nearly 100 people outside the Nanaimo Aquatic Center last weekend.

Janayh Wright said Friday, February 3, that she escorted her daughter and niece to the pool’s changing room and said a person in a mask and wig was loitering there and then attempted to watch her daughter from an adjacent changing room.

Wright “exchanged words” with the person, who said it was their human right to be there, and Wright then escorted them off the premises.

“I was absolutely outraged because where are my child’s human rights? Where is the safety for my child? … Children have no voice and we must be their voice. We have to do everything we can to make sure nothing happens to them,” she said.

The city of Nanaimo said in a statement that it had recently received two reports “regarding the activities of [a] potential transgender person in the women’s locker room” and that NAC staff had several contacts with the police.

reserve const. Nanaimo RCMP spokesman Gary O’Brien said it appears the same individual was involved in both incidents. He said there was currently no surveillance footage and no finding of charges, but said the complaints were being actively investigated.

Darcie Osborne, the city’s director of recreation and culture, said there is a code of conduct for public entities. Employees who observe such behavior will use their discretion to issue a warning, ban an individual from the facility, or call the RCMP.

Osborne said the city takes public safety-related incidents very seriously.

“I believe very strongly in our procedures that we have. We’ve been doing this for many years,” she said. “Given the way this is going on right now, [staff] are very aware and they are all very aware of who is entering the building and who is doing what.”

The city’s statement outlined its code of conduct and also affirmed the right of trans people to use the washrooms and changing rooms that are consistent with their gender identity.

The Nanaimo Pride Society released a statement on the incident last weekend because social media posts about the alleged peeping incident have sparked disturbing “anti-trans talk.”

The Society condemned predatory behavior, adding that “gender identity is not and should not be an excuse for harming anyone.” However, the statement also pointed to a growing number of people in Nanaimo who are actively attacking transgender people via social media without much resistance.

“As such, the Nanaimo Pride Society calls on our community and allies to take responsibility in every interaction related to this incident. Please call transphobia if you see it. Please recognize that much of the negative attention to this incident will be erroneously focused on people with a trans experience, and trans female people in particular…” the statement read. “We are incredibly concerned that innocent people will be hurt as a result.”

Wright said she believes the person who peeked “appropriated” transgender identity, but said “it’s not about a transgender issue. It does not have anything to do with it. What that has to do with the safety of my child.”

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