In a likely illegal move, the University of North Carolina Wilmington is interrupting the workout schedules of its students who like to get in some early evening pool laps by closing the facility down for an “LGBTQ+ only” pool party.
An event listing received through Young America’s Foundation’s Campus Bias Tip Line explains that the event is “exclusively for transgender, non-binary, and queer UNCW folks.”
Set-up and clean-up for the discriminatory program will result in the cancellation of open lap swim hours for the entire afternoon and evening, according to a Department of Campus Recreation representative contacted by the New Guard.
According to Young America’s Foundation’s legal experts, allowing access to the pool based on sexuality and gender is a likely violation of students’ civil rights. YAF is actively pursuing options for recourse.
This isn’t the first institution of higher education to segregate its swimming pool in modern times. Last year, the New Guard broke news of the University of Waterloo’s new policy to segregate its pool by race and transgender status. Following YAF’s exclusive report, the controversial program received extensive coverage by both American and Canadian news media and has since been canceled.
