Matt Gush - stock.adobe.com
CV NEWS FEED // The American Life League has issued a statement calling out the apparent disparity between the Young Men’s Christian Association (YMCA)’s original name and mission and the progressive stance and policies adopted by the organization in recent years.
In a June 7 statement, the American Life League’s Charity Watchlist pointed out “the incongruity” between the founding mission of the YMCA “to put Christian principles into practice through programs that build healthy spirit, mind and body for all,” and its current outspoken support of pride month.
“The YMCA’s actions and policies show that ‘to put Christian principles into practice’ is no longer a priority for the organization,” Katherine Van Dyke, American Life League’s lead researcher on the Charity Watchlist project stated, noting that the organization has preferred instead to defend and signal its support for the transgender movement.
“The organization also fails girls and women by subjecting them to both dangerous situations and taking away the privacy and respect they deserve by forcing them to share changing rooms with men, without apology or amendment to its policies,” she added.
The Watchlist listed several examples of apparent conflict in the organization’s founding and current principles, including an instance from last year, when a 16 year-old female swimmer walked in on two biological males changing in the women’s locker room.
As CatholicVote previously reported, the Springfield, Illinois YMCA banned the young woman, Abbigail Wheeler, 16, from swimming for its team and accused her of “hate speech” after she protested the policy allowing biological males access to women’s spaces.
“The blame sits squarely on the YMCA’s radical policies and promotions that place ‘inclusivity’ above all, even over the safety of women and children and prevention of sexual abuse,” the Watchlist said in the statement.
American Life League National Director Katie Brown went a step further, declaring that “the YMCA should take ‘Christian’ out of its name since the organization has made it clear it has no intention of upholding Christian values.”
