A Sydney man alleged he was threatened by Fitness First personal trainers after he made a formal complaint against their manager for mocking the inclusion of They/Them pronouns on social media.
NSW Police confirmed that a complaint had been filed over the incident.
Thiago Baldin, works out at the Fitness First in Rockdale, on Botany Road.
Last week, he noticed an Instagram story from the head personal trainer which mocked the inclusion of They/Them pronouns.
Do You Have A Problem?
He decided to make a formal complaint to the management at the gym.
“Having an actual personal trainer that works for the club posting something with a homophobic tone. This is not okay,” Baldin explained in an interview with Star Observer.
A week later, on May 16, Baldin was at the gym. “I was just doing my exercise. I was in the cardio area. I finished my exercise. Then I have two personal trainers flank me on my right, whom I have never spoken to before.
“One of them was right in front of me, with both hands behind his back, and he was like, ‘Do you have a problem with my manager?’
“I was like, ‘Who are you and why are both of you here talking to me?” Baldin said the trainer responded, “Don’t you ever message [the manager] again.”
When he asked if that was a threat, the personal trainer responded, “No, it’s not, but take it as you want.”
“It was very intimidating,” Baldin said. “It happened in the middle of the gym floor, in front of everyone, in front of cameras. They were so confident that nothing was going to happen to them.” The regional manager was contacted and Baldin was told to make an incident report.
Confronted After Police Complaint
After filing an incident report with the manager on duty, he said he was confronted by the head personal trainer, who he had filed the initial complaint against.
According to Baldin, the head personal trainer told him, “‘I have no issues with your kind’.
“He said this in front of absolutely everyone. There were other employees, there were clubgoers. I’m like, wait a minute, my kind?”
A police report has been filed in regard to the alleged intimidation, which NSW Police have confirmed.
“I actually filed a police report because I don’t feel safe going back to the gym,” Baldin said.
“I don’t feel safe around where I live because I have seen them before at Woolies and the shopping center, and if they were so confident to do that at work, out in the open, what would they do when the cameras can’t see, when it’s not a work environment?”
Star Observer contacted Fitness First Rockdale over the allegations and the branch manager gave us the email of the media team. We will update the story when they respond.