(Courtesy: @goodlifefitness/Instagram & @dreambodygurp/TikTok)
An Ontario man has gone viral after sharing a video of himself being asked to leave a GoodLife Fitness gym in Windsor for carrying a kirpan, a mandatory religious article of faith for initiated Sikhs.
Gurpartap Singh Khalsa is a Sikh content creator who filmed his interaction with an employee after claiming he was “racially singled out” and told to leave the gym.
In the video, the employee says they were made aware that the kirpan was on his person while working out, and didn’t notice it when he entered.
“So you’re scared that I’m gonna take this religious symbol and kill somebody,” Khalsa asked the employee in the video.
The employee responded to Khalsa asking him to leave and stating that since it is a private gym, they are allowed to deny access to customers if needed.
“A member has brought it to my attention, and for the safety of me and everybody else in the gym, I’m asking you to leave,” the employee can be heard saying in the video.
A kirpan which resembles a knife or sword is a mandatory religious article for initiated Sikhs that is carried at all times as an expression of faith and is not intended to be used as a weapon.
The Brandon Gonez Show reached out to GoodLife Fitness regarding an update on the incident and what the gym’s policies are when it comes to members having a kirpan on their person.
“At GoodLife, we are committed to creating a safe, welcoming, and inclusive environment for everyone,” wrote GoodLife Fitness Senior Vice President, Tracy Matthews.
“The interaction shown in the video reflects a situation where our established practices were not applied as intended. We have reached out directly to the individual involved to address this matter. We comply with all applicable government legislation, including Canadian human rights laws.”
According to the Ontario Human Rights Commission (OHRC), a person has the freedom to wear religious articles and when it comes to a kirpan, institutions are legally supposed to find a compromise instead of banning someone from having it on their person.
“Organizations have a duty to accommodate wearing articles of faith up to the point of undue hardship,” the OHRC states on their website.
