On September 24, Gina Nelson arrived for what she assumed would be a safe and professional pelvic floor therapy appointment at Femina Physical Therapy in the Sherman Oaks neighborhood in Los Angeles, California. But when a man entered the room and identified himself as “Sarah,” she said she knew something was wrong.

Nelson initially sought out pelvic floor therapy to ease perimenopause symptoms, she told IW Features. She said she discovered Femina in a simple internet search, booked an appointment online, and filled out the appointment paperwork online.

“It seemed like it was very female-run and owned,” Nelson said of the business, which has four locations—three in the Los Angeles area and one near Atlanta, Georgia.

Indeed, Nelson said she assumed that she would see a female practitioner, especially since pelvic floor therapists often need to touch internal and external intimate areas to assess treatment options for women facing sensitive health issues like pelvic organ prolapse, incontinence, vaginismus, and pelvic pain. It can already be hard enough, Nelson explained, to receive pelvic floor therapy even with the most experienced and educated female practitioners.

However, the booking form has no option to select a therapist, she said.

“Most of the time when you go to the doctor, they do ask you, ‘Do you want a male or a female provider?’” Nelson explained. “I wasn’t even asked that.”

Nelson arrived at her appointment and was directed to an exam room where the only light came through windows halfway covered by blinds, she recalled. Then, she said a six-foot-tall man wearing an N95 mask and woman’s blouse entered the room.

“I’m going to be your therapist,” he said, according to Nelson. “I’m Sarah.”

However, Nelson alleges that his legal name was formerly Dave Philip Bellon.

“I was really creeped out immediately,” Nelson said.

Bellon brought in a female therapist who took notes during the meeting, and this second therapist acted as though Bellon were a woman, Nelson explained. Nelson said she had been seated on the far side of the room, and the two workers sat between her and the door. Combined with being unable to see the man’s face and the darkened room, she said she felt deeply uncomfortable.

“I think that if you’re meeting patients and doing something as invasive as this kind of therapy, you owe it to them to let them see who you are,” she said. “At least ask, ‘Hey, do you mind if I wear a mask?’”

Nelson previously worked in healthcare and said Bellon’s and Femina’s behavior did not meet the standard of professionalism required in medicine. For instance, she recalled wondering why Bellon walked into the room without turning on the lights and suggested that the darkness may have been intended to disguise Bellon’s true sex.

“I’m seeing another physical therapist for a foot issue,” she said, giving another example. “They’re very careful about making sure you’re comfortable. You can request a female.”

However, Nelson said she suspects that even if she would have been able to request a female practitioner at Femina, the clinic would have still assigned her Bellon because he identifies as a woman.

“I’ve had male doctors in the past, but my male doctors … weren’t trying to be something else,” Nelson elaborated. “They weren’t trying to be deceptive.”

During the appointment, Nelson said she tried to stay calm. Bellon did some non-invasive assessments, but when it came to anything intimate, Nelson said she wouldn’t permit the exam to continue.

“As I was leaving, he kept on trying to really encourage me [to continue the examination],” Nelson told IW Features.

After she left, Nelson said she spoke to the local police but was told that law enforcement could not get involved because she had not been inappropriately touched or assaulted by Bellon.

Since then, Nelson has brought her story to writer Exulansic, who documents gender ideology issues. Exulansic discovered that the physical therapist listed as “Sarah Bellon” on Femina’s website goes by “six_foot_sarah” on Instagram, where he has shared side-by-side images of his pre- and post-medicalization appearance. Bellon’s Instagram profile is now private. 

Exulansic also alleges Bellon only began working as a pelvic floor therapist after transitioning.

While Nelson was able to leave her appointment unscathed, she told IW Features how the pressure of the situation would make many women feel afraid and unsafe. She elaborated that men could hide potential criminal records behind a new “female” identity when being screened for sensitive positions like doctor, therapist, or pediatrician.

“My advice would be stay calm, but get up and leave,” she said. “You have a right to say, ‘No.’”

Since speaking out, Nelson said she worries for her and her family’s safety, particularly after the ideologically motivated assassination of Charlie Kirk, since Bellon could have access to her address and other personal information via her medical records.

“I was at a weapons training yesterday because I’m just like, ‘Is this guy going to show up at my house? Is he going to start harassing me?’” she told IW Features.

In the meantime, Nelson explained that she has requested her medical records from Femina but received no response, despite the fact that patients have a legal right to their medical records.

Additionally, Nelson said Femina charged her for a complete appointment, even though she did not complete the examination.

Despite the potential repercussions for speaking out, Nelson said more people need to know women are being put in unsafe positions as their private spaces are invaded by men.

“Women shouldn’t be put in these positions in the first place,” she concluded.