SANTEE, Calif. (KGTV) — Demands to cut ties between the city of Santee and the YMCA continued Wednesday night at a city council meeting.
Forty speakers signed up to speak during the meeting's non-agenda public comment.
"This is not controversial, this is common sense. Let males and females, they need to be in their own damn locker rooms," said one speaker at the podium.
In December 2022, a 17-year-old girl said she saw the backside of a transgender woman at the Cameron Family YMCA.
The topic has sparked protests, passionate city council meetings, and demands for consequences for the YMCA.
Santee Mayor John Minto told ABC 10News he personally doesn't see the city stopping the lease, saying it's a valuable asset to the community. Instead, he said the city has been working with the YMCA to make sure everyone feels welcome and safe, hoping to please both sides.
"We're working with them to create a resolution because we want people to be safe, have the privacy that they want, and we also want to make sure that everybody is valued in doing so," said Minto.
The YMCA has said they're following and compliant with state laws.
Christynne Wood, the transgender woman at the center of this debate, told ABC 10News in a January interview that she uses one of the private showers in the women's locker room and that she never saw the teen who made the claim.
Since the item wasn't on the agenda, the council took no action or any vote, but the speakers vowed to be back for the next city council meeting.
