I didn’t say you should be groped. But taking this story at face value requires more suspension of disbelief than your average sci-fi thriller.

Picture it: he’s reading a newspaper which presumably is taking up some portion of his lap alone in a sauna. Suddenly someone has seated them self within a foot or two without his notice. That person then somehow maneuvers past his paper and gets such a firm grip on his penis that his hand has to be pried off.

I’ve not conducted any definitive study on the graspability of penes, but I think that shared wisdom would agree that getting a firm grip on a flaccid penis – without including any accompanying matters – is seldom a feat easily accomplished on a seated man while negotiating a newspaper, all without his awareness, and presumably without any ease of access minded grooming.

On the other hand, Mr. Keister’s offended member may have in some way isolated itself from its surrounding environment and represented itself as the sort of object that is graspable in such a manner as to require a hand to be “pried off”.

Which does not mean that Mr. Keister should be assaulted, but it might cause one to ponder whether his shock and surprise originated more in the telling of the story to his wife than it did at the moment. Or he reads significantly more stimulating newspapers than I do.

Or it could be the case that Mr. Keister is the sort of fellow who has outside the norm proportions. But it’s unlikely that he would have gotten to his age without someone at some point saying, “my god, what IS that?” in which case he has an entirely different complaint from the one he filed.

In other words, either Mr. Keister’s flaccid penis is quite the astonishing member or this is all a bit too “that’s what the homosexuals do” for me to take seriously.

It’s the YMCA, not a gay bar, or a gay bath house.

Michael Keister, me or anyone else for that matter has every right to go to the steam room or the locker room or the sauna without being assaulted. If you think that’s funny or a problem then you friend have the problem and not Michael Keister.

I am gay and I have to add, thanks to the grabber for making us all look like mental case perverts who can’t behave in an appropriate manner. Great job you fool…

The victim does not seem to have gone through proper channels, though, such as reporting the assault to the company and the police, so I don’t see this suit going anywhere.

Separate issues are whether these events actually happened as alleged and whether the Y should be liable to any degree. The first issue is a matter of proof for the plaintiff and the latter is a matter of law. I tend to think that the allegations are probably exaggerated and that liability probably does not attach under these circumstances. But that really doesn’t justify the rather breezy tone of this post or the majority of the replies.

I have news for you. No 3 year old is safe on a gym floor, in a sauna, or in a steamroom, be it at the Y or anywhere else.

I don’t care whether heterosexual hookers are doing tricks in the sauna or not. DO NOT bring your three year old grandson into a sauna, steamroom, or gym floor. In fact, unless they have facilities specifically designed for toddler care, don’t bring your 3 year old grandson to the gym at all.

It isn’t safe and it is a tremendous imposition on those who are trying to work out. If I saw a three year old on the gym floor I would stop my routine immediately – as would all those who regularly work out. We know that it’s dangerous enough with adults.

Clearly the lawyers are going for maximum press exposure by trying to expand this into a class action. Such an action certainly casts the motivations of the firm in a suspicious light, but that shouldn’t cast doubt on Keister. He may be a dupe being used for political purposes but sexual assault is still serious & he was assaulted according to the facts he gave. Another case to follow to see how it all shakes out.