Breastfeeding Mom Told To Leave Women-Only Gym

A Texas mother was in a gym with her small son who is still breastfeeding. When it was time for him to have a meal, she went to the Kids Club area of Pure Fitness gym in Houston, TX and sat down, making sure it would be impossible for the kids in the room to see her nipples or her breasts, and proceeded to feed her son.

After a few moments, someone approached Ms. Montgomery-Schlanser and, according to her, asked her to stop breastfeeding. When she said she wanted to speak to the manager, the woman who approached her said that she was the owner and then proceeded to ask Ms. Montgomery-Schlanser not only to stop breastfeeding but to leave the gym.

It should be noted that the gym itself denies this happened, and say that they never asked her to completely stop breastfeeding nor to leave the gym. They just asked her to go to a different part of the gym where there were no children and where it would probably be more comfortable to breastfeed. They say that they felt uncomfortable allowing her to breastfeed in front of the children because there was no way to know if all of their parents would have thought it was acceptable. Without a permission slip signed for such a thing, they felt the best thing to do was to ask her to go to another part of the gym.

Personally, I am more apt to believe Ms. Montgomery-Schlanser's version than the gym's. I feel that right now they're trying to cover their asses and since it's just her word against theirs...well it's pretty easy to say she's lying. I've seen enough people in positions of authority act the way that Ms. Montgomery-Schlanser describes to feel it's more authentic. But, I could be wrong, I guess.

Either way, she's fighting back. And so are her supporters. This has not just been taken to the media, there's been an organized nurse-in scheduled for August 26th at the gym by people who support Ms. Montgomery-Schlanser and her right to breastfeed wherever she wants to.

Also, regardless of your views on this, in Texas it really is discrimination for this gym to have done what they did. By Texas law, it is a legal right for a woman to breastfeed anywhere she is authorized to be. This means not just where she's authorized to breastfeed, but anywhere is allowed to go where she is NOT breastfeed she is also allowed to breastfeed in those areas. So, she had every legal right in Texas to breastfeed in the gym and to breastfeed in the room she was at.

So, if you don't agree with Ms. Montgomery-Schlanser...well that's your prerogative, but the law in Texas says her rights were violated, regardless of whether or not you or the gym like it or not.