The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals has upheld a ruling forcing a Christian-owned women-only nude spa in Washington state to admit biological males identifying as women, dismissing claims of religious freedom and association. The decision, affirmed last week after a full court declined review, prioritizes transgender ideology over women’s privacy and safety.
Olympus Spa, owned by conservative Christians, challenged a state anti-discrimination law after a trans-identifying man filed a complaint with the Washington Human Rights Commission in 2020. The spa had denied service to protect female clients and employees from exposure to male genitalia. A federal judge dismissed the 2022 challenge in 2023, and the appeals court majority treated the case as routine public accommodation discrimination, ignoring the profound violation of women’s dignity.
In a blistering dissent, Trump-appointed Judge Lawrence Van Dyke cut through the euphemisms: “This is a case about swinging d**ks. The Christian owners of Olympus Spa — a traditional, women-only, nude spa — understandably don’t want them in their spa. Their female employees and female clients don’t want them in their spa either.” He warned that regulators and judges are forcing women and girls as young as 13 to endure the consequences of “Frankenstein social experiments,” exposing them to male anatomy in intimate spaces.
Nearly 30 colleagues, including Judges M. Margaret McKeown and six others, condemned Van Dyke’s language as “crass” and “vulgar,” with some declaring, “We are better than this.” Yet the dissent’s bluntness highlights the moral insanity of the ruling: it erodes biological reality, religious liberty, and protections for women in favor of radical gender ideology.