SKATE LIKE A GIRL

With a quick glance, you can deduce Skate Like a Girl is all about providing women opportunities to skateboard… it’s right there in the name. Take a closer look though, and you’ll find out it is much more. Yes, there is skateboarding…. Nearly everything the organization does revolves around skating. But really, Skate Like a Girl is about community, empowerment, and growth. Their community is focused on women as well as trans, non-binary, and all gender non-conforming folks. Yes, there is always a lot of skateboarding at their events, but it’s more of a vehicle to build their community. Getting better and having fun skating is a goal, but they are always focused on doing so by providing safe and inclusive environments to do it in. 

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Like many sports, skateboarding is traditionally male-dominated. And skate park culture has traditionally been one that is uninviting to anyone who does not pass as a cis, straight man… and especially so for those new to the sport. Through speaking with staff and participants at Skate Like a Girl events, I’ve learned most have felt uncomfortable at skate parks and many have been harassed and have worried about their safety. Skate Like a Girl’s Women &/or Trans Sessions were created to directly combat that toxic culture. What they offer is a venue that is exclusive to people of marginalized gender identities. Having a place that is protected against all the negativity, participants can focus on having fun, becoming better skaters, and building a community of their own.

 

Skaters at the twice weekly Women &/or Trans Sessions (the staff refers to it simply as “WT”) represent all ages, backgrounds, body types, and skill levels. The environment is pure positivity, and the staff does an incredible job of making everyone feel welcomed through their words and their actions. “It’s been an incredible opportunity for my kid, who is trans, to have really a safe space and community to build of his own. And to see people welcome him for who he is and not what his pronouns are, not what his gender identity is, and really to give him the confidence to try something he’d never tried before and to excel at it,” said Jason (he/him), the father of a young skater name Effie, who joins the lessons portion of WT every week. 

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I myself had never skateboarded before but chose to document Skate Like a Girl because of my passion for skateboard adjacent sports. As a queer trans person of color, I know first-hand the impact and importance of having an inclusive space and I was compelled to document and share the story of the people in this organization. But after attending WT as a photographer, I was inspired by all the folks I’ve met and the culture they have created. Soon after my first session, I signed up for their lessons have attended WT as a photographer and participant. There is an incredible community here, filled with amazing humans, and I am excited to continue to be part of it.

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*Each page of the spread are 11x14"