New Jersey spa must allow trans-identifying males into women-only nude spaces: judge

A New Jersey spa must allow male customers who identify as the opposite sex to access female-only areas where women are required to be nude, regardless of whether they've undergone a sex-change surgery, a judge has ruled.

In a consent order signed by Superior Court Judge Thomas A. Sarlo, the King Spa in Bergen County agreed to implement policies based on "sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or gender expression."

“It is unlawful and violates company policy to discriminate in any way against a client because of the client's actual or perceived gender identity," the consent order states, according to NJ Advance Media. "[E]ach person has a gender identity, which may or may not correspond to the sex that person was assigned at birth."

According to the order, which was signed in August but has only recently garnered media attention, the company policy's definition of gender identity refers to "a person's internal sense of being male, female or any other gender, regardless of physical characteristics or appearance."

Continued below.