Womens’ spa appeals to Supreme Court over transgender ruling

A female-only Korean spa this week asked the Supreme Court to hear its case over a Washington state law requiring the spa to admit male customers, Alliance Defending Freedom President Kristen Waggoner said Wednesday. As a traditional Korean spa that offers nude baths and body scrubs in communal spaces, Olympus Spa only allows female patrons and staff. Patrons may be as young as 13. The spa’s owners, who profess Christianity, cited tradition as well as their religious beliefs as a basis for the policy.

The legal battle began in 2020, when a man who identified as a woman filed a complaint under the state’s public accommodation law after being denied entry. The state said the spa must admit men or close its doors. The ensuing lawsuit eventually reached the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit. The appeals court dismissed the case in a divided decision. The majority found that the state’s requirements did not violate the spa owners’ First Amendment rights to free speech and free exercise of religion, or the freedom of association recognized by the Supreme Court.

Attorneys with Alliance Defending Freedom, as well as the Pacific Justice Institute, are asking the Supreme Court to take up the case to decide on two questions, Waggoner said:

• Did Washington state’s response to the controversy violate the spa owners’ First Amendment rights?

• Did the spa’s entry policy based on anatomy unlawfully discriminate on the basis of gender identity or transgender status?

Dig deeper: Read my report on a recent religious freedom lawsuit in Nigeria over a Christian woman’s conversion.