COLUMBIA, Mo. (AP) — A transgender woman’s use of the women’s locker room in a suburban St. Louis gym prompted a protest, a plan for a boycott and calls for an investigation by the state’s politically vulnerable Republican attorney general, who quickly obliged.
The woman joined the gym Sunday, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported.
By Friday morning, a Republican state lawmaker had held a news conference outside the gym, and protesters gathered to criticize the fitness center, according to the newspaper.
“I have been contacted by a lot of people,” Rep. Justin Sparks told The Associated Press on Friday. He held the news conference but said he did not organize protesters. Sparks represents a House district neighboring the gym.
Life Time spokesperson Natalie Bushaw said the woman showed staff a copy of her driver’s license, which identified her as female.
AP requests for comment via Facebook to the gym member were not immediately returned Friday. She told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch that a women approached her in the sauna Monday and said she was a man and that she did not belong there.
“The Missouri Human Rights Act prohibits discrimination on the basis of sex,” Bushaw said in a statement. “Therefore, the member is to use Life Time’s women’s locker room.”
Ellisville police Capt. Andy Vaughn said the agency on Friday received a report of alleged indecent exposure at the gym that is being investigated. No charges have been filed.
Also on Friday, Attorney General Andrew Bailey announced he is investigating the gym and sent a letter warning Life Time that its policies “are enabling potentially criminal behavior."
“As Attorney General, I will vigorously defend and enforce Missouri’s laws,” Bailey wrote. “You face both potential criminal and civil liabilities.”
Missouri has not enacted a law dictating transgender people’s access to public restrooms, and the state’s attorney general has limited authority to press criminal charges. That is typically left to local prosecutors.
Bailey cited a 2015 Missouri appeals court ruling against a man convicted of misdemeanor trespassing in a women’s gas station restroom.
In that case, the man holed up in a women's gas station bathroom and smoked cigarettes for several hours. He did not claim to be a woman or to be transgender, but he attempted to disguise his voice when staff asked him to stop smoking.
Workers called police, who arrived and asked the man why he was in the female restroom.
“Appellant responded that he had to defecate ‘really bad,’ ” according to the ruling. He was carrying lotion and a pornographic magazine.
Ellisville police said the agency is not investigating potential trespassing because the private gym gave the member permission to use the women's locker room. It is unclear if a property owner can be prosecuted under Missouri law for allowing trespassing on their property.
Voters on Tuesday will decide whether to elect Bailey, who was appointed by Gov. Mike Parson, to another term or to nominate Will Scharf as the Republican candidate. Scharf is a member of former President Donald Trump’s legal team.
In the GOP-dominated state, the primary winner has a huge advantage in November’s general election.
FILE - Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey testifies before the House Judiciary Committee hearing on the Manhattan District Attorney's Office, June 13, 2024, on Capitol Hill in Washington. A transgender woman's use of the women's locker room at a suburban St. Louis gym is prompting protests and calls for an investigation. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana, File)
TORSBY, Sweden (AP) — David Beckham and former England coach Roy Hodgson were among the soccer dignitaries who attended the funeral of Sven-Goran Eriksson on Friday in the Swedish manager's small hometown of Torsby.
Eriksson's wooden coffin was covered in white flowers and surrounded by six tall candles and other floral wreaths as the ceremony began inside the 600-seat Fryksande church.
“It is a day of grief but also a day of thankfulness,” the priest, Ingela Älvskog, told those in attendance.
Beckham, who arrived by private jet on Thursday, greeted Eriksson's 95-year-old father Sven and other family members with hugs inside the church before the funeral started.
Eriksson became England's first foreign-born coach when he led the national team from 2001-06, and made Beckham his captain.
Eriksson, who also won trophies at club level in Italy, Portugal and Sweden, died on Aug. 26 at the age of 76, eight months after he revealed he had been diagnosed with pancreatic cancer and had at most one year to live.
Some 200 seats in the neo-Gothic church from 1898 were reserved for his family, friends and players from his career in the football world, according to his agent. The remaining seats were open for the public, according to Eriksson's wish, with a big screen set up outside the church where dozens more gathered to watch the ceremony. The funeral was also broadcast live on some Swedish media websites.
The wooden coffin was wheeled in by pallbearers at the church Friday morning as fog wrapped Torsby — a town of about 4,000 people located about 310 kilometers (193 miles) west of Stockholm. Next to the casket was a photo of Eriksson on a small table. The floral wreaths included ones sent by FIFA and Lazio, the Italian team that Eriksson led to the Serie A title in 2000.
The ceremony began with somber piano and organ music, but later took on a more upbeat note with Swedish singer Charlotta Birgersson performing Elton John’s song “Candle In The Wind" and then “My Way” in a duet with Johan Birgersson.
Beckham also visited Eriksson in Sweden in June to say goodbye. Others attending the funeral included the Swedish coach's longtime partner Nancy Dell’Olio. Eriksson's agent had said that guests from England, Italy and Spain were expected.
After Friday’s church ceremony, a musical procession was set accompany the coffin to a nearby museum where speeches and eulogies to the coach fondly known as “Svennis” would be given.
The local soccer club Torsby IF, where Eriksson started his career in the 1960s, wrote on its webpage that “you also showed your greatness by always being yourself, the caring Svennis who talked to everyone and took the time, for big and small, asking how things were and how the football was going. We will miss you.”
AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer
People attend the funeral service of Swedish soccer manager Sven-Goran Eriksson at Fryksände church in Torsby, Sweden, Friday Sept. 13, 2024. (Adam Ihse/TT News Agency via AP)
A general view of a screen outside Fryksande Church in Torsby, Sweden, ahead of the funeral for football legend Sven-Goran Eriksson, Friday, Sept. 13, 2024. (Jonas EkströmerTT News Agency via AP)
Yaniseth Alcides, right, the partner of Swedish soccer manager Sven-Goran Eriksson arrives at his funeral service at Fryksände church in Torsby, Sweden, Friday Sept. 13, 2024. (Jonas Ekströmer/TT News Agency via AP)
A coffin of football legend Sven-Goran Eriksson is carried into Fryksande church in Torsby, Sweden, Friday, Sept. 13, 2024. (Jonas Ekströmer/TT News Agency via AP)
A coffin of football legend Sven-Goran Eriksson is carried into Fryksande church in Torsby, Sweden, Friday, Sept. 13, 2024. (Jonas Ekströmer/TT News Agency via AP)
A woman signs a condolence book for the late Swedish soccer coach Sven-Goran Eriksson at the pastor's office in Torsby, Sweden, Thursday, Sept. 12, 2024. (Jonas Ekströmer/TT News Agency via AP)
David Beckham and Nancy Dell'Olio hug as they arrive to attend the funeral service of Swedish soccer manager Sven-Goran Eriksson at Fryksände church in Torsby, Sweden, Friday Sept. 13, 2024. (Adam Ihse/TT News Agency via AP)
David Beckham arrives to attend the funeral service of Swedish soccer manager Sven-Goran Eriksson at Fryksände church in Torsby, Sweden, Friday Sept. 13, 2024. (Adam Ihse/TT News Agency via AP)
People attend the funeral service of Swedish soccer manager Sven-Goran Eriksson at Fryksände church in Torsby, Sweden, Friday Sept. 13, 2024. (Adam Ihse/TT News Agency via AP)
David Beckham and Nancy Dell'Olio hug as they arrive to attend the funeral service of Swedish soccer manager Sven-Goran Eriksson at Fryksände church in Torsby, Sweden, Friday Sept. 13, 2024. (Adam Ihse/TT News Agency via AP)
