Christian Korean spa in Washington state appeals to SCOTUS after man demands to enter female-only space

Attorneys representing a Christian, family-owned Korean spa in Washington state have asked the U.S. Supreme Court to hear its challenge to a state requirement that it admit a man who calls himself a woman to its female-only nude facilities. 

Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF) and Pacific Justice Institute submitted the petition for a writ of certiorari to the high court on behalf of Olympus Spa on Aug. 10.

“Based on a single complaint by a male who may never even have visited the spa, Washington state decided its views on gender identity must override a centuries-old cultural practice and deep religious conviction, turning its enforcement power against a Korean family’s small business,” John Bursch, ADF senior counsel and vice president of appellate advocacy, said in an Aug. 10 ADF press release. 

Olympus Spa, operated by the Lee family, offers traditional Korean spa services rooted in centuries of Korean culture. According to court documents, patrons remain nude in the spa’s communal bathhouse and sauna areas while receiving seshin, a traditional body scrub performed by trained female employees. 

The spa has long limited admission to women and “post-operative transgender women,” citing the intimate nature of its services, its commitment to preserving Korean tradition, and its owners’ Christian belief that men and women should not be unclothed together outside marriage, according to court documents. Girls as young as 13 may use the facilities. 

In 2020, Haven Wilvich, a man who calls himself a “nonbinary trans woman” and is “sexually attracted to women,” filed a complaint with the Washington State Human Rights Commission alleging that Olympus Spa denied him admission because of its female-only rule, according to court documents. The spa later told the commission that it had no record that Wilvich had visited the business. 

Still, the commission notified Olympus Spa that its policy violated state law by discriminating on the basis of “gender expression or identity.” Court documents show state officials threatened to refer the matter for prosecution and gave the owners a short window to change the policy or face closure. 

The Lee family sued state officials in 2022, arguing that enforcing the law violated their First Amendment rights to free exercise of religion, free speech, and association. A federal district court dismissed the spa’s complaint with prejudice. A divided three-judge panel of the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals upheld the dismissal in May 2025, holding that the First Amendment did not shield the spa from the state’s requirements. 

Bursch said Washington officials are turning the Lee family’s “lives into a nightmare, insisting they compromise not only their deeply held religious beliefs but also the privacy and safety of women and girls as young as 13 who visit the spa.”

“The First Amendment forbids all that,” Bursch added, “which is why we’re urging the U.S. Supreme Court to hear the Lee family’s case.”