Via ShutterstockSpa World, in Centreville, Va., is popular for its Korean-style communal baths and other facilities that are open 24 hours a day. But it turns out not to be the most welcoming place. According to a report in the Fairfax Times, Spa World denies service to gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender customers.
The policy was found out after a transgender woman visiting from California stopped in last year. She was enjoying Spa World’s female bathing pool until a staff member asked her to leave, the Fairfax Times reports:
“They told me that I was not welcome there and to leave because I looked a little different,” she said. “Let’s say I am a member of the LGBT population.”
The woman filed a complaint with the Better Business Bureau.
In response, Spa World is sticking by its discriminatory policy:
The Better Business Bureau opened an investigation, and on Jan. 28, Spa World representative Sang Lee responded to the BBB in writing by stating “It is our policy to not accept any kinds of abnormal sexual oriented customers to our facility such as homosexuals, or transgender(s).”
The Spa World written reply goes on to say that the spa stands by this policy for the sake of young children who utilize the facility. “Also, for the safety and the comfort of young children at Spa World, we strongly forbid any abnormal sexual behaviors and orientation in our facility. Despite the controversial issue of homosexuality and transgender, it is our policy to not accept them,” Lee wrote.
Spa World is also the subject of this week’s Washington City Paper cover story, for which a writer spent a full 24 hours there.
