The Essential Summit Conference 10-3-2024 Columbus Convention Center

Center for Christian Virtues

Janell Holloway shares her experience of encountering a naked man in the women's locker room at the Xenia YMCA.

Full Text:

Good Morning

My name is Janell Holloway and I am from Xenia, OH. The events that I am going

to share with you today were never written in my planner, but God, in his

sovereignty, has given me this opportunity and many other opportunities over the

past two years to share my story. The one thing I do not want to do is disgrace the

name of Jesus by simply walking away in silence.

On September 26, 2022, after finishing up a swim at my local YMCA, I went into

the women’s locker room to shower and change. To my horror and shock, I

encountered a completely naked man sitting on a bench in the women’s locker

room. Finding myself alone in a locker room, with a man exhibiting predatory

behavior, was terrifying. I quickly hid myself in a shower stall and stood in

complete silence until he dressed and left.

I knew he was a man because our family has known this man since he was in

elementary school. He attended school with my boys, and I had been his high

school tennis coach for three seasons.

I immediately reported my experience to the YMCA staff. The leadership had no

concern for me or my safety, the director of the Xenia Y simply offered – “if I was

not comfortable using the women’s locker room, then I could use the family locker

room.”

After my story went public, I soon discovered that during 2022, dozens of other

women and girls, one even as young as 5 years old, had also seen this same man

completely naked in a YMCA women’s locker room. Contrary to the opinion of the

YMCA, his presence in the women’s locker room was inappropriate and

dangerous.

What has motivated me to keep sharing my story with others?

From the very beginning I have been motivated by God’s command to love our

neighbors. I do not want other women, young girls, or even my precious

granddaughters to ever experience what I experienced that September day. Our

community should not be a place where sexually confused men, pedophiles, and

predators have such easy access to places where women and young girls are most

vulnerable. This is without question sick and evil. Love demands action. It will

never be easy for me to share my story, but I know the truth is on my side.

To be very honest with you today, I have often struggled with intense anger and

hurt. I was betrayed by the YMCA and deeply hurt by Y leaders who I had

personally known and trusted. I felt violated all over again when I testified in

court just a few feet from the man who victimized me, and then I felt like I had

been kicked in the stomach when a judge acquitted this man of all charges. It

seemed that I and the other victims, who were brave enough to speak up, were

now merely being put on display as being transphobic and bigots before a

watching world. I was angry when my Facebook account was permanently deleted

for simply sharing my story.

But in this journey, God has again and again proven faithful. I have been so

blessed to have many local pastors, community leaders, and state legislators

demonstrate in very tangible ways their support. The Independent Women’s

Forum and the Center for Christian Virtues have also been a great support to me

and the other women who have spoken out.

As far as the YMCA goes, and as much as I would like to say I have seen some

success, I haven’t. As long as men are still permitted to sexually harass women

and girls in a YMCA women’s locker room or other female only space, my story will

still be relevant and needs to be shared.

When the times of anger and fear have threatened to overtake me, Psalm 27,

David’s Psalm of “worshiping before war” has over and over again been a lifeline

to me. Let me read just a portion of this Psalm to you.

The Lord is my light and my salvation—

whom shall I fear?

The Lord is the stronghold of my life—

of whom shall I be afraid?

When the wicked advance against me

to devour me,

it is my enemies and my foes

who will stumble and fall.

Though an army besiege me,

my heart will not fear;

though war break out against me,

even then I will be confident.

One thing I ask from the Lord,

this only do I seek:

that I may dwell in the house of the Lord

all the days of my life,

to gaze on the beauty of the Lord

and to seek him in his temple.

For in the day of trouble

he will keep me safe in his dwelling;

he will hide me in the shelter of his sacred tent

and set me high upon a rock...

Hear my voice when I call, Lord;

be merciful to me and answer me...

Do not turn me over to the desire of my foes,

for false witnesses rise up against me,

spouting malicious accusations.

I pray that the man who victimized so many women in Xenia will someday soon

experience God’s saving grace. I pray that God will use my voice to promote the

privacy, safety, and respect that women and girls deserve. Because of this one

incident, my life has been forever changed, but as the last two verses of Psalm 27

say,

I remain confident of this:

I will see the goodness of the Lord

in the land of the living.

Wait for the Lord;

be strong and take heart

and wait for the Lord.

Thank you