Police hurried to the Amity Road Planet Fitness gym Thursday responding to a bomb threat, amid national protests over Planet Fitness’s locker room policy for transgender members.
Someone conveyed the bomb threat to New Haven police’s media office at 3:55 p.m. The caller mentioned Planet Fitness outlets in New Haven, Orange, East Haven, and Hamden, according to Police Chief Karl Jacobson.
“These are the locations where we placed shrapnel bombs. Fuck you and your degeneracy. We will kill you all,” the caller said, without specifying what kind of alleged “degeneracy.”
New Haven police notified the other towns’ departments about the threat. They notified the New Haven Planet Fitness outlet as well, then rushed over to check out the premises, which had been evacuated. No bombs were found.
Nationally, Planet Fitness became the target this week of a nationwide boycott call by conservative anti-LGBT activists critical of the chain’s decision to allow transgender customers to use locker rooms and bathrooms of their choice, and to revoke the membership of a woman who complained about and snapped photos of a person she identified as male shaving legs in a women’s bathroom in a Fairbanks, Alaska, outlet.
Anti-LGBT forces vowed online to give Planet Fitness the “Bud Lite” treatment in response. Within days, the chain lost $400 million in stock value. Elon Musk sided with the protests, calling Planet Fitness “a creepy place” in an X post.
The chain’s website states that “all members and team members may use Planet Fitness locker room facilities and programs based on their self-reported gender identity,” including bathrooms and showers.
“At Planet Fitness, we celebrate and champion diversity and provide an environment where everyone feels accepted, respected and like they belong. Planet Fitness prohibits discrimination and harassment that is based on gender identity or gender expression in the workplace and in our clubs,” the chain states.
New Haven Pride Center Executive Director Juancarlos Soto, who has been following the Planet Fitness saga, called for people to speak up in support of transgender rights and safety. “As anti-transgender rhetoric heats up during an election year, it’s going to get worse. We have to be more proactive,” he told the Independent Friday.