Members of a downtown Indianapolis Crossfit Infiltrate gym are bailing after general manager Brandon Lowe canceled a pride-themed workout via email.
The rapid fallout doesn’t end there, though—on Friday evening, Crossfit fired company executive Russell Berger for supporting Lowe’s discriminatory move in a series of homophobic tweets just hours before.
“Thank you #CrossFitInfiltrate for standing by your convictions and refusing to celebrate sin by hosting an @indypride workout,” Berger shared on his personal Twitter account. "The intolerance of the LBGTQ ideology toward any alternative views is mind-blowing.” The tweets have since been deleted.
And here is Crossfit’s public statement about their Chief Knowledge Officer's termination mere hours later.
Shortly after receiving an email that the Indianapolis gym’s pride workout had been axed, member Ryan Nix confronted Lowe on Facebook, in a message that has since been made private.
“We emailed the owner since it seemed that there was an issue with people who may be LGBT,” Nix wrote. “You can see from his response that there is…. Please tell your friends not to join this place.”
Lowe told Nix that the gym was for “total health,” and that pride prevents people from seeing themselves “as God truly defines them to be.”
“Our underlying goal for the staff and members at CrossFit Infiltrate and our other gyms CrossFit White river and University Ave CrossFit is total health and well-being for the individual and community. Total health involves the body, the emotions, relationships, and the spirit. At the foundational detractor from health, as we believe God sets the parameters for, is pride. We believe that true health forever can only be found within humility, not pride. Humility is seeing oneself as they truly are, and as God truly defines them to be. As a business we will choose to deploy our resources towards those efforts and causes that line up with our own values and beliefs.
Of course we will continue treat anyone and everyone with the same respect and provide the same service at CrossFit Infiltrate to anyone that wishes to take part.”
Several members and employees of the Indianapolis gym have already cut ties.
Member Becca Kimball told local station RTV6, “It’s been a fabulous community… I quit my membership within an hour of receiving the email. I didn’t wanna be associated with a discriminatory organization.”
On the upside, Lowe’s decision has brought members of the Indianapolis community together. Some of the gym’s employees have rescheduled the pride-themed workout for Thursday June 7 at an outdoor location. The rescheduled workout will be open to the public.
It looks like CrossFit still has some serious damage control to tend to.
Sad, in 2018, such bigotry,
Sad, in 2018, such bigotry, prejudice, hatred, and plain uneducated ignorance still exists from some…