Santee YMCA faces protests against transgender woman in locker room

SANTEE (KUSI) – Last week, a 17-year-old made headlines after reporting an incident involving her naked man using the Santee YMCA women’s locker room.

Rebecca Phillips shared her scary experience speaking to the Santee City Council as she noted that the staff had all but ignored her concerns as the other person identified as a woman. Phillips’ speech went viral and made national headlines as few victims talk about embarrassing situations like this one.

After her story received national coverage, Santee’s YMCA closed early on Wednesday, January 18, after administrators learned of protests planned on campus.

Hundreds of people showed up to protest the YMCA’s response to the incident and came to Rebecca’s defense.

Nearby, a small group of oncoming protesters were stationed, hoping to convince the public that the victim was actually a transgender woman, not 17-year-old Rebecca. There was a short period of tense interaction, but most of the time both groups were peaceful.

KUSI’s Rafer Weigel reported live from the YMCA in Santi how the protests went.