Christian-owned women-only spa asks Supreme Court to review Washington transgender law

The owners of Olympus Spa have filed a petition for the U.S. Supreme Court to consider whether Washington's anti-discrimination law can compel them to admit transgender men to their women-only facility.

Olympus Spa, operated by Sun Lee and his family, has long enforced a policy that only women may use its nude facilities, a practice rooted in Korean jjimjilbang tradition. In 2020 a transgender man, Caleb Richmond (who now goes by Haven Wilvich), lodged a complaint with the Washington Human Rights Commission alleging discrimination. The commission ordered the spa to change its policy, leading the owners to settle while reserving a constitutional challenge.

They sued the commission in 2022, asserting violations of free exercise of religion, speech and association, but a district court dismissed the suit and the Ninth Circuit affirmed that dismissal. After a denied rehearing request, the family, represented by Alliance Defending Freedom and the Pacific Justice Institute, petitioned the U.S. Supreme Court, arguing that forcing the spa to admit males infringes the Free Exercise Clause and discriminates based on anatomy.

Judge Lawrence VanDyke publicly criticized his colleagues for rejecting the case. The petition highlights that similar private clubs could legally exclude men, and cites Supreme Court precedent protecting religiously motivated gender-based exclusions.