02/18/2008
California Gym Boots Gay Man Over T-Shirt
David Cano wore a t-shirt to his gym, California Family Fitness, that said "I need a man or a date, serious inquiries only," and the gym canceled his membership, saying several guests had come forward complaining about his choice of clothing.
Apparently the t-shirt wasn't "family" enough for them.
Said Cano: "I just thought something up, and said maybe I would wear it. It was kind of like a gag thing. They're responsible for kicking me out because of my shirt and discrimination. It's basically because I'm open [about my sexual orientation]."
Sphere: Related ContentPosted 5:08 PM EST by Andy in California, Discrimination, Fashion Men, News | Permalink
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Dammit! I can't make out the phone number...
Posted by: Michael W. | Feb 18, 2008 5:23:08 PM
This is awful...
However, when life gives you lemons...
sell the shirt to the millions of people who for whatever small print there is to their contracts and all the run around from customer service...cannot get out of their gym memberships! And, give the money to charity!
Now, what can we do about lycra shorts and those who stll choose to wear them?
Posted by: Joe-in-Atlanta | Feb 18, 2008 5:25:44 PM
Is he going to sue them? I'd sue their shirts off... and then we'd all be even.
Posted by: oakling | Feb 18, 2008 5:48:03 PM
Give me a break. There's injustice and there's getting your gym membership revoked because you didn't want to take off a seriously tacky t-shirt. And I'm sorry, but I refuse to believe that they are one and the same. As a gay guy, I go to the gym to work out, not tell the world I'm a whore on Craigslist. That shirt would make me queasy if I saw it at the gym. Mainly because I despise attention-whores. Just run on the treadmill dude. Maybe lose a few and you wouldn't have to advertise like a desperate troll.
Something I would like to know - did they ask him to remove the shirt (a perfectly reasonable request being that it's just gross to have your phone number on a t-shirt that advertises your lonliness) and he refused or did they just outright revoke his membership? I think it's an important distinction. If they just yanked his membership then he might have a case, if not legally then at least maybe public perception-wise. But dude - for the love of all that's holy, class it up. You were basically telling everyone that you'd be staring at their junk in the showers and most men would find that a bit distracting at the gym. This is just embarressing.
Posted by: Joe | Feb 18, 2008 5:58:14 PM
A cut-off tee?! Puh-lease.
Posted by: FernLaPlante | Feb 18, 2008 6:06:09 PM
No sympathy from me, dude. You had it coming. A gym is a place to work out, not pick up dates/tricks. Step out of the gym if you want to do all that, and take your horny mind and questionable fashion with you.
Posted by: Jimmy | Feb 18, 2008 6:33:21 PM
The shirt is not offensive at all. Actually, when I'm at the gym I usually don't even notice what people's shirts say. I'm too busy working out. It doesn't use offensive language or anything, so he definitely will win a legal case. If someone wore a shirt that said "Black History Month" and people complained because they don't believe in that lifestyle, the club would never dare ban them.
Plus, at least the guy has it on a shirt instead of hitting on everyone. You know how many times straight guys hit on women at the gym? Those are the real pigs who need to be kicked out. It's going to be great when this guy wins a big settlement.
Posted by: Jacob | Feb 18, 2008 6:35:26 PM
What gym is it?
Posted by: Tyler | Feb 18, 2008 6:43:36 PM
Y'know, I've been far more troubled by the incontinent bitch on the treadmill in front of me when I'm downwind of the turbo blaster air ducts than I would EVER be of some skank troll wearing a come-and-get-it shirt. It's the MARRIED "my fat wife doesn't suck dick and won't put out any more" ones at the gym you oughta be concerned abou...
OH, NOW I GET IT!
Them bitches was just mad that nasty lookin' hobag was fishin' in their pond. HAHAHAHAHAHA!
Posted by: FizziekruntNT | Feb 18, 2008 6:52:58 PM
I wouldn't wear a shirt in public with my phone number. A gag with friends, then wear it to a party? Sure. There is this slight "thing" there that doesn't ring right with me. Did they discuss it with him before cancelling his membership? He said it was a "gag". For what? It sounds like he wore it more than once to the gym. Was he looking for a reaction more than date?
Posted by: David | Feb 18, 2008 6:55:25 PM
Gym Info:
8569 Bond Rd. Elk Grove, CA 95624
Ph.(916) 685-5555
I called and personally spoke with Brandon. They are of course trying to refer folks to corporate. He says there is more to the story than being told, and ultimately the guy lost his membership because he threatended the gym in some manner.
If true, the threatning piece probably only happened after he was told he couldn't wear the shirt.
Other should feel free to call if they want more info... =)
Posted by: mike | Feb 18, 2008 6:59:06 PM
As a former resident of Elk Grove I can tell you it's VERY conservative. It was a little white suburb of Sacramento forever. It's now become a midsize city and doesn't know how to handle diversity. If the shirt said "I need a woman" and his number, he would have been slapped on the back. But as a gay black man in Elk Grove he was "lynched" in the only way then can now. Shame on you California Family Fitness. I guess it's ok for single females to walk around with "Juicy" on their ass.
Posted by: john | Feb 18, 2008 7:00:36 PM
This guy showed bad judgment and now he is crying victim. If he really wants to wear the idiotic shirt - I am sure he can find at least -one- gym in all of california that wouldn't care.
Posted by: yoshi | Feb 18, 2008 7:13:19 PM
So that's all it takes to cancel a membership? I've been trying to cancel my Ballys for months. Thanks for the heads up.
Posted by: CJ | Feb 18, 2008 7:50:29 PM
Does anyone remember going to Manhattan Plaza in the early 90's? There was a guy who used to wear the most explicit t-shirts to work out in. Most of them had actual cocks on them and even one of a guy sucking one. It was hysterical and he got away with it for a long time until someone finally asked if he could leave the really graphic ones at home. He also used to play techno music on his walkman and punch the air walking on the treadmill. He was a really fun guy, sexy and a great dancer (would run into him at clubs occasionally). I miss my gay gyms.
If this guy from the post were straight and had done something similar, no one would have done anything other than chuckle. Homophobia is so rampant in this culture. I say until every straight person stops talking about their wife, their gf, their bf, their husband, their kids, their anniversary, their baby shower, their bridal shower, their wedding shower, their rings, they can all shove it up their ass. The only blatant part of our culture is heterosexuality.
Posted by: Raze | Feb 18, 2008 7:56:28 PM
How is this any different from the girls in spaghetti strap little tight shirts that say 'slut' or 'easy' on them. how ubiquitous are they? this guy puts out that hes available and he gets in trouble? i hope he sues the pants off of them!
Posted by: Adam Vanderlip | Feb 18, 2008 8:00:15 PM
While it's of questionable taste, would the gym have removed a man for wearing a t-shirt that said he needed a female? I suspect not. The double standard prevails in California, apparently.
Posted by: jon | Feb 18, 2008 8:00:52 PM
This is how straights try to keep the male-male interaction out of the mainstream. Anything with a male-male suggestion is removed or forcibly segregated into the "gay scene". We have to be very aware of this because it's a form of cultural apartheid. My message to straights is this: I'll kiss my boyfriend any damn place I please, including main street.
Posted by: tom | Feb 18, 2008 8:04:20 PM
I like how the ad before the NEWS package (follow the link) is for the Gun Room...
I can't believe how many comments blame the victim - OMG! It's illegal in CA, even in Elk Grove, I hope he contacts an attorney.
I SPOKE TO THE REPORTER (screw the club) at CBS13 and she told me that the health club people were extremely agitated and claiming this guy was causing problems - - HOWEVER, she couldn't find any member of the club to corroborate their story, in fact, the opposite.
She did find several members who said this guy David was very calm until four employees surrounded him and escorted him to the front desk and later out the front door.
She also told me three male members of the club called this guy David a fag while she was setting up the interview.
You people that condemned the gay guy are discrete homosexuals that need to do some work on your internalized homophone issues...
David B.
Posted by: David B. | Feb 18, 2008 8:30:49 PM
it's a typical . "douchbag shirt" no matter who wears it..not appropriate for gyms. A straight guy once wore a "stop rape do me" shirt at my gym and he was told to not wear it too...
Posted by: alan brickman | Feb 18, 2008 8:57:35 PM
I don't agree with the gym's decision to revoke this guy's membership, but at the same time, he was obviously looking for this kind of reaction. He printed the t-shirt himself and wore it to an obviously conservative gym? How many people here make their own workout clothes? Unless he is a complete idiot, he knew his shirt was going to stir things up, and he got exactly what he wanted. A "victim" this guy is not.
Posted by: James | Feb 18, 2008 9:15:50 PM
god this is hilarious, what happened to everybody's sense of humor? i wonder tho, who complained? men? women? last time i heard, the gym was a perfect place to pick up a trick.... it worked for the ancient greeks, who were so democratic you know...
Posted by: the queen | Feb 18, 2008 9:33:40 PM
There's more to this story than what we're being told. The foreign guy sounds like a jerk looking for attention.
Posted by: PacificHeights | Feb 18, 2008 10:11:47 PM
I completely agree with Joe and Jimmy and James.
As homosexuals, we are obliged to completely censor ourselves, effectively neutering ourselves, when in public. We must act in every way to be invisible and not disturb the illusion of the total dominance of heterosexuality.
How dare this man wear a gag t-shirt that suggests that he is not straight? How dare he offend the straight men at the gym and make them feel uneasy? Doesn't he know that it is the role of the gay man to feel uneasy? Doesn't he understand that by making the straight men worry that someone might look "at their junk" that he is upsetting the natural order of the universe?
If we let fags wear gag t-shirts to the gym, what's next? Fags marrying each other? What IS the world coming to?
Posted by: Chris | Feb 18, 2008 11:59:32 PM
What we need to be aware of is that the sexual liberation movement of the 1960's was never really about accepting gay and bisexual men into the mainstream of society. It was about accepting certain lesbians and bisexual women into the mainstream, and not gay and bisexual men. Women have exploited this double standard by wearing increasingly lurid clothes in gyms, cocktail parties etc etc. Men, on the other hand, must answer to nervous straights if they dare wear anything lurid or suggestive.
Face it, guys. There is a sleazy straight guy/bisexual female enabler paradigm out there that is working against the interests of gay and bisexual men. Blame liberals, blame the Playboy philosophy, blame the porn industry, blame the sexual liberation movement. These are the liberal institutions that you ought to be blaming.
Posted by: jason | Feb 19, 2008 12:19:27 AM