Good news! Remember the petition I created last week? This is the one calling on Carilion Clinic to extend family memberships at its gyms to unmarried couples, including same sex couple.
Well, in eight days it attracted more than 90,000 signatures along with national media coverage and prompted Carilion to revise its criteria for family membership!
The below statement was posted this afternoon on the Roanoke and Botetourt Athletic Clubs’ Facebook page.
I applaud Carilion Clinic for moving so quickly and for responding to the outpouring of support on my Change.org petition for Will Trinkle, Juan Granados, and their two-year-old son Oliver Trinkle-Granados.
I also want to thank everyone who signed my Change.org petition. You hailed from all over-Roanoke to Rome-and you delivered a clear message that there is no room for this kind of discrimination in the world.
Congratulations to Will, Juan, Oliver, and all of you!
**
Dear RAC/BAC members,
We want to let you know that the Roanoke and Botetourt Athletic Clubs are making a change in our membership guidelines. We will be distributing an email blast to all members, but because the change is important and effective immediately, we are sharing the news on Facebook as well.
Since opening our doors over three decades ago, we have always strived to provide the very best in service, programs, and staffing. Our goal has been, and always will be to encourage and inspire health and wellness among all members of the communities we serve.
In keeping with this goal, and in recognition of the many contemporary households that can benefit from our facilities through discounted membership fees, we are pleased to announce that we have expanded our Family Membership into a new Household Membership with the following criteria:
Household Membership:
A household consists of a primary member and up to one additional household member that permanently lives in the household, and any of their dependent children under the age of 22 who also reside in the household on a permanent basis.
Club dues will not change; dues for the Household Membership will be the same as the Family Membership it is replacing. There is no requirement to amend your membership, but should this change be advantageous to you, please contact our sales office. If we may answer any questions, do not hesitate to contact us.
We thank you for your continued patronage and will never take that for granted.
Great work. I’ll keep an eye on you and the issues you propel into the limelight since you show evidence as being a positive instrument for change. Great work indeed !
THE PEOPLE, UNITED, WILL NEVER BE DEFEATED!!!!
we won’t stop until all beings are free of violence and discrimination!!!!
That’s remarkable and in a GOOD way!
Personally I agreed with Carilion. That was not a family and never will be in the eyes of God.
Stop with the gay agenda already. It’s your private business. But that pool is owned by a PRIVATE company and they have the right to set the rules the way they see fit. They only changed it because you had a tantrum. Private owned places should have the right to create the rules as they see fit. The gay agenda is really irritating mainstream folk.
@Honest Alice… really? people like you probably called the civil rights movement the negro agenda….and actually, it’s only irritating those with a straight agenda or a religious agenda, as they are losing… The actual mainstream of heterosexuals, like myself, that believe in equal rights for everyone, applaud their efforts in not backing down… hence the reason their actually winning the fight.
Heh. I love it. Whenever someone gay stands up for their rights and demands equal treatment, some hack trots out the tired, old “gay agenda” trope. Guys, the horse is dead. More and more people are realizing that there’s no such thing as the “gay agenda.” They simplly want what everyone wants; equal rights and to be left the hell alone.
Jeff, the “eyes of God” as you put it, are hopelessly myopic if they really see things the way you do. I’m so pleased that you can speak for your god himself. Frankly, I doubt that your god is as hateful as you are. Even then, I much prefer the gods I worship and pray to; although I don’t pretend to speak for them.
I guarantee you they are more of a family than some so-called families I’ve seen of the heterosexual persuasion. Let’s be fair here. Are there dysfunctional gay families? Almost certainly. Does heterosexuality guarantee a good family, full of love and caring? Of course not. It’s about the people, not who they sleep with. People make a family.
Congratulations Mark! I am absolutely overjoyed at your very quick success at convincing the company to change their discriminatory policy. Your “agenda” is one of equality and kindness and I for one knew justice would win in the end.
Haters to the left! Yeah, I went there.
Much love to you, friend.
It’s a shame they decided not to recognize these households as families, but it’s still a policy shift in the right direction.
I agree with Josuke and Morgan.How can it be a “gay agenda”, when so many heterosexuals agree that such discriminatory practices are wrong? Of course, it’s a private business; and, as such, they are subject to pressures from potential and current dues-paying members. As a member of actual “mainstream folk”, I am embarrassed by those who seek to deny individuals and families with the rights that they expect for themselves. And, Morgan, as a Christian I think it is pretty arrogant and self-righteous to claim that one speaks for God.
@Honest Alice, I agree that a private club has a right to set its own rules. I hope you also agree that I have the right to object if I find those rules obnoxious, which I do, in this case. Obviously, so do a lot of other people. H.A., accept that you are outnumbered and go have a beer or something and chill out.
I support the banning of this type of action. I have no problem with Gay people just a problem with them wanting to be above the law, or want special treatment for being such. I It is people like this’ fault for why the gay community has such a negative impact on society and vice verse. YOU ARE NOT A MARRIED COUPLE, just a couple guys who happen to have a son which by the way you WOULD NOT have if you had not found a GIRLFRIEND/FEMALE COUNTERPART to begin with. GIVE IT A BREAK PEOPLE. I REFUSE TO GIVE YOU SPECIAL TREATMENT JUST ?BECAUSE YOUR GAY. IM FAT I DONT GET SPECIAL TREATMENT FOR THAT. NO MORE FOOD STAMPS FOR BEING FAT, NO MORE MEMBERSHIPS…. TAKE A CHILL PILL.
I was torn on this issue…I completely agree that the treatment of the Trinkle-Granados FAMILY was rude, small minded and biased. However, the wording of the petition demanded that a private business change its policy. While the petition did accomplish the goal of positive policy change, I don’t agree that a private business should be told how to set policy if they are within the legal rights for their location. Does this family still want to belong to a club that would have employees that would speak to them in the manner they spoken to? I would have preferred that all current members of the club resign until the policy was changed and ALL employees were educated in the definition of family and how to treat ALL members with courtesy and respect. I am truly impressed with the wording of the new policy and applaud that you were able to accomplish this change
Paul i have to agree with you about the special treatment. Your fat right? so what does anyone do for you? NOTHING! I’m white and i don’t get nothing! I don’t get an EBT card and i have to feed five people a day. But i sure u you if I was of a diff race i could get a EBT card plus some. This Country has grown weak, we was a nation wich was strong and now we let the gays run the nation or get what they want. GAY’s are not united under GOD’s trems of a marry couple. But gays don’t get it cause if they did there would be no gays. God had destoryed them once and he’ll do it again with everyone else. People listen up The time is near to get right with the lord.
According to the Bible, God destroyed Sodom [Genesis 19: 1-29] because the men of the city wanted Lot to send his male guests into the streets so they could engage in sexual pleasures. Why did God destroy Sodom?
I’m so glad this family was able to get a membership. You naysayers are the biggest bunch of moronic bigots. There is no such thing as the “gay agenda”. We don’t care what you think God thinks about gays….you aren’t god…..you never will be. Stop trying to talk for him, if he does in fact exist. You are right, a private company has the right to discriminate as long as it isn’t against the laws. At the same time, a private citizen has the right to complain about said company. People have the right to start petitions. We have a duty as actual evolved human beings to help bring the rest of society up to the 21st Century. You knuckle dragging, bible thumping, sister bangers are being left in the dust. I know, it must be scary. Gay people exist……gays & lesbians have kids. Deal with it!
Look 2 gay men and children are not family.
2 gay women and children are not family.
This was about money.
There was no discrimination to begin with and yes i know what discrimination is.
As for the club they toke a calculated risk and they will have to live with that decision. People with moral character, you know what i mean, will not join!!!!
Thank you Ethan Miguel I had the same reaction-moving in the right direction but can’t apply the word family yet, when I was a child I was considered illegitimate because I was adopted -I look forward to the day when family will be a “household” word no matter what genders, blood, non -blood etc are involved!
I was going to mention that this “new” type of membership sounds a lot like “separate-but-equal.”
But… WOW, lots of bigots and racists posting here. As a member of the Christian Left, I sincerely apologize for the hate spewed by some of these so-called Christians who don’t even understand that the Sin of Sodom was a sin against giving hospitality to strangers. This is explicitly known and written about extensively in Jewish *and* Islamic tradition, even referenced by the prophets later on, most notably in the following passage:
“Now this was the sin of Sodom: She and her daughters were arrogant, overfed and unconcerned; they did not help the poor and needy. They were haughty and did detestable things before me. Therefore I did away with them as you have seen. —Ezekiel 16:49-50
To demonstrate more fully that Christians aren’t all horrible anti-gay bigots I’m going share the following article:
http://www.thegodarticle.com/7/post/2011/10/clobbering-biblical-gay-bashing.html
Good night, good luck and God bless.
Well done
Bottom line is, the kid can now swim 
Oh…. and to the haters out there who are arguing the rights of a private organization…. YOU try telling a two year-old kid that he can’t swim in that pool because he happens to be a child of loving parents whom you don’t endorse as a true family. Shame on you all.
Bigot Logic: If you have the exact same rights and freedoms as I do, then you have extra rights and freedoms.
FELICIDADES!!! I circulated via Facebook in Mexico! This IS Much MORE than allowing a two year old to swim…MUCH MUCH MORE! In Mexico City folks are allowed to legally get married. A sign too that Times are A Changin’.
YAY! Hurray for all families, straight or gay or… other!
First our country denied rights to families that weren’t white, and mixed-race families. It seems only logical that we would, finally, realize that families are not a one-size-fits-all item.
And I’m certain that some of you who don’t want gay families in your pools also don’t want Mexican or Black or “other” families in your pool either, but the world moves forward.
The wheel of justice grinds slowly, but it grinds exceedingly fine. (not a perfect repro. of the quotation I’m sure, but you get the gist)
Hurray!
I got an e-mail about this petition yesterday, and was ready to sign it today, when I saw the note at the end that you won! Bravo to Carilion for responding so quickly with an eye to good customer service and good community relations.
As for those few commenters who seem to think they have the right to decide which families are “real” families, well, hey, guess what? They don’t. They don’t get to approve with whom other people fall in love, form a household, share their lives, raise children. And thank whatever Deity runs the Cosmos for that. Not that many decades ago there were many who would have said the interracial families in my family, and among my friends and neighbors, were not “real” families or “real” marriages. Some people still think (sic) that way. The families are still real families.
Congratulations again for making a difference! Liberty and justice for ALL is the American Way.
P.S. – I went ahead and signed the petition, just to add to the numbers to show how much support you have, and made my comment a “thank-you note” to Carilion.
So very happy to see that “we” won! There is no gay agenda and I am sick of having people trot out that tired refrain. This country has much bigger issues to deal with that a “gay agenda.”
Everybody is missing the main point. Taking a shower, a little steam, or a dip in the communal men’s hot tub just got to be more fun.
You know what? To all you God-loving and homophobic persons who seem to have found their way into this forum:
People like you are SUCH hypocrites. You wanna quote the old testament? You wanna take it literal
and seriously?
Fine.
But if the old testament applies to gay
people, it applies to you too.
If you’re tattooed, if you had sex before you were married, if you’ve ever cut your hair or shaved your face, if you’ve ever enjoyed a steak, etc, then it looks like you’re going to hell too, buddy.
And don’t you dare turn around and try to say it isn’t meant to be taken literally, because if you get to choose which biblical doctrine you choose to apply to your life, so does someone homosexual.
What kind of world is this where a dysfunctional family with only one parent on welfare is considered more legitimate than a loving family with two gay parents. You people disgust me.
As long as the law continues to deprive the gay community of basic civil liberties, then YES, They ARE ABOVE THE LAW. Until we live in a country where all men are truly treated equal, we will continue to fight for every minority that Big America decides they’re going to target next.
The original petitioner was NOT throwing a temper tantrum. They found a policy that obviously discriminated against certain families and made change. You can always leave America and go to Uganda or something.
Wake up and realize times are changing, and you need to let the ignorance go.
Does anyone else see the correlation here between people who are using their interpretation of God’s will to support discrimination and an apparent lack of basic education based on their inability to spell and use grammar in their posts?
As for a “gay agenda” – Wanting equality? How dare they!