UPDATE: Just minutes after we published our item news flashed on twitter that the club had reversed itself:
@changeLGBT
BREAKING NEWS: The Carilion Clinic announced they will change their family policy so children with gay parents can swim in the pool!
Thank you to a FB commenter for that update.
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From the Richmond Times Dispatch (AP):
ROANOKE — A Roanoke man has sued a fitness club after it sold him a family membership, then revoked it after realizing that his family consisted of two fathers and a son.
William Trinkle is suing Roanoke Athletic Club and its affiliate, Carilion Clinic, for breach of contract and violation of the Virginia Consumer Protection Act. Trinkle says that he purchased a family membership in May for himself, his partner, Juan Granados, and their 2-year-old son, Oliver. Club officials approved their application, and the family started using the facilities.
Trinkle and Granados said they were shocked when they were turned away from the pool. Club officials told them same-sex couples don’t meet Virginia’s legal definition of family.
An email to a Carilion spokesman wasn’t immediately returned today.
Earlier this year, a gay married couple in Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio, was unsuccessful in their efforts to urge the local parks board to change the rate structure of the local public swimming club, which allows heterosexual married couples to receive a $255 annual discount to use the pool compared to individual members (and gay couples). When the parks board voted against changing the rate structure, the mayor of Cuyahoga Falls, Don Robart, was quoted in a local TV report saying he’s not homophobic, just fiscally responsible.