Woman Cries After Encountering Naked Man In Women's Sauna, Staff Says They Can't Help Her: "My Safe Space Just Became Unsafe"

After eight years of frequent visits to the spa—a place she considered her refuge—the woman, who wishes to remain anonymous, was deeply shocked when she saw a naked man in the women’s section of the Korean bathhouse. When she brought her concerns to the staff, they informed her that the individual in question identified as a transwoman and, by law, they could not make him leave.

“I walk in and I see a penis, chest hair, and a low haircut,” she said online, describing her initial shock. “So I freak out and run out. I go to the people that work there, and they’re all women, and I say, ‘Oh my goodness, I think somebody came into the wrong side or something. There’s a man in there.’” The staff, visibly uncomfortable themselves, told her, “It’s a trans woman.”

Their response did little to alleviate her distress. “I’m in shock because this person saw me completely naked without my consent. And I saw, I don’t even know if I should call it a trans woman because it looked like a straight-up man. I’m talking chest hair, a low cut, a very big penis, and was older in age.”

The woman broke down in tears. “I’ve been coming here for eight years, and this is one of my safe spaces where I go to unwind…Just that quick, my safe space became unsafe,” she said. “I felt like something very private to me was taken from me without my consent. I shouldn’t have to be in spaces where men have full access to me naked without my consent. And vice versa.”

While the spa staff apologized, they explained that legally there was nothing they could do due to state and federal policies surrounding "gender identity." The woman left the spa, upset and conflicted, despite their attempts to compensate her by waiving her admission fee and offering free food.

This incident echoes past incidents involving men in women's spaces, drawing comparisons to the infamous Planet Fitness case and the more recent Wi Spa incident in Los Angeles. In both cases, people raised concerns about the presence of men in women’s locker rooms, only to be dismissed, ignored, or banned.

The Wi Spa incident was particularly contentious, with left-wing journalists and trans activists initially claiming the complaint was a hoax. However, it later came to light that the man in question was a registered sex offender, leading many to believe that these spaces are increasingly being compromised under the guise of inclusivity.

For the woman at Island Spa, the experience left her reeling. “We’re kind of conditioned to feel like everything’s transphobic, like me even feeling this way is transphobic. But I was very, very uncomfortable, and I just feel like I have the right to feel that way.”

As more stories like this emerge, many are calling this situation Planet Fitness 2.0—a reference to the growing trend of women being told to accept men in their private spaces or risk being labeled intolerant. The debate continues to rage, but for this woman and many others, the feeling of having their privacy violated is all too real.

“I don’t know if I’ll ever feel comfortable going back," the woman concluded. "It’s heartbreaking that a place that used to be a safe haven now feels anything but safe.”

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