We're queer and we're here

Someone I know through face book and chat to about how awesome skating is raised a question recently... Where are the queer skaters and queer culture within skating? He'd just come out as queer to his skate friends and it had been a complete non event (rather like my experience of coming out as queer to my skate friends), and he was wondering why, if skaters are so open minded (and they are), isn't there a recognised queer culture in skating?

It's a good question... The are undoubtedly lots of queer skaters, and queer and skate culture both have roots in rebellious counter cultures where the freedom to express yourself was prized, so why do queer skaters, by and large, choose not to share that bit of themselves with the world?

At this point someone usually chimes in with the “someone's sexuality has no place in skating, skaters are skaters” argument. Which is great, except for the fact that saying something doesn't actually make it true. When sponsored queer skaters are asking where the rest of the queer skaters are - it is a problem... Not because queer skaters should have to broadcast the fact that they're queer, but simply because virtually no one has. There are some high profile, openly queer female skaters but I can't think of any equivalent guys. EDIT - I now know that there is at least one openly queer male pro in the longboarding world.

There is a huge problem with homophobia in skating, and it's very rarely addressed. You may think that throwing the term “gay” about when your buddy does something stupid or a bit lame is harmless, but it isn't. It subtly frames gay in the negative, and given that even in these supposedly enlightened times people are still struggling with coming out, being reminded that gay = wrong by a bunch of people who claim to be accepting of difference can be like a kick in the cunt. And don't get me started on using faggot as an insult because right now, somewhere in the world, someone is being beaten to death by people yelling that very word at them*. So just don't okay.

There is a macho culture that permeates skating, you know, the whole lifestyle thing of how long your last standie was, how fast you've been, how much skin you've sacrificed to skatan and how many beers you've shot gunned at the end of the day. Which is cool, a lot of skating can be like that, but when it gets packaged up and sold by big business as the entirety of the skating lifestyle it creates a toxic space where being perceived as anything other than some sort of hyper-bro stereotype is frowned upon. And because stereotypical bros are always straight, queer skaters get pushed aside. Life isn't that black and white though, how you act and project yourself has little relation to who you're attracted to, but there's this enduring and completely false belief that queer women are women who want to be guys and queer guys are guys who want to be women. And that all feeds into the way the patriarchy deems anything to do with women to somehow be lesser than men, so we end up in a situation where gay and faggot are used as put downs for guys who don't conform.

This is bullshit and we need to call time on it right now, because the “skaters are skaters” line should be true... who you're attracted to has no bearing on your ability to skate, just as your gender has no bearing on your ability to skate. But skaters, and the skate community, need to act in a way that makes this true, rather than just firing off the line when ever anyone tries to talk about it. So stop throwing gay and faggot around as insults, and call out your friends when they do it, because you never know who is listening. Make skating a space that is truly welcoming to anyone who wants to be a part of it.

As skaters we've spent far too long ignoring this issue, pretending that it doesn't exist. But people are ready to talk about it... This is just a start. Basically we're queer and we're here... actually we've always been here. But that really doesn't change anything so lets go skate.

*I have no way of determining if this is true but it probably is because the world can suck when you're queer.

Skate don't Hate - Longboard Girls Crew and why it isn't sexist.

I'm a skater, I also happen to be a feminist; and no, the two things aren't mutually exclusive. The statement that “LGC is sexist”, is one that crops up far too often and the very fact that people feel able to make it actually highlights why we need LGC in the first place.

Here's why:

There is no such thing as reverse sexism. Period. There is no all pervasive system of matriarchy that marginalises men and privileges women just for being female... It just doesn't exist. Sure women can be nasty, intolerant and discriminatory towards individual men (just so you know, this is bad too), but without that all important matriarchy to back up these negative behaviours it's a bit like throwing up into the teeth of a gale. You end up stinking of vomit after it ends up straight back in your face.
Sadly there is such a thing as the patriarchy, a system so ingrained into our various cultures that it is all but invisible, and it does exist to marginalise women and their voices, and gives systemic privilege to men just because they're men.

Now before I go any further let me categorically state that longboarding is generally quite open minded and accepting. However, it doesn't exist outside of the rest of society (well at least not until the time where we all move to Cali, kick out all the non-skaters and secede from the union), so things that are part of wider culture are part of longboarding as well. This doesn't mean that longboarding is a reflection of some of the nastier aspects of sexism, and it doesn't mean that every guy out there is a hurtful pig, deliberately being sexist (or indeed the girls who think the same way are being deliberately hurtful... Yes women can be misogynistic too). Most of the sexism in longboarding is of the unthinking everyday kind that has just been normalised because if you don't intend to be sexist you can't be sexist, right?

Wrong!

Regardless of intent, something is sexist if it marginalises women's voices and ability. You may think that telling the lady shredder that comes out to some sessions with you is “...good, for a girl” is a compliment, but you're judging her based on her gender. If she rips, she rips and tell her... She may not be the best skater on the hill, but she will have put in the blood, sweat and tears to get to the level she's at, just like you have, so respect that.

Oh and on the subject of judging ability on gender, please refrain from bitching that a female skater was “...only sponsored because she's a girl”. This may actually be the truth, certainly in surfing female pros almost always fit the stereotypical image of the surfer babe, and as longboarding gets more commercial this may happen as well. Just because the sexism has benefited her, doesn't change the fact that it's sexism, if you have an issue with companies sponsoring girls whose ability to skate is eclipsed by their ability to look pretty, take it up with the companies, not the riders. Support brands who treat their female riders as riders rather than marketing opportunities.

Side note: Adverts for skate gear that needlessly objectify women are not legitimised if said company runs an advert that needlessly objectifies a guy. Both are wrong and that's why I won't buy Caliber trucks.

So where have we got so far? There's no such thing as reverse sexism, and not intending something to be sexist doesn't mean it isn't. So how does this tie in with Longboard Girls Crew, and why if we have LGC don't we have a longboard guys crew. Well the reason there isn't a guys crew is because it already exists, I like to call it the bro club and it's pretty much called all of longboarding. Now before the red mist descends and you wittily post a comment calling me a man hating, dyke bitch (to save time just email all your hateful bile to Idon'tGiveAFuck@TalkToTheHand.com), consider how many female skaters regularly turn up to the sessions you go too. Now consider how many guys turn up to skate, particularly to gnarly, high speed skids kind of sessions. I would be pleasantly surprised if in a group of say 30 skaters at a session more than 5 were girls. The fact that I went to a freeride at the start of September and out of nearly 140 riders I was the only girl kind of suggest that things need to change. Especially as everyone wanted to see more girls on the hill and having fun.

Everyone, unless you really are a hateful, misogynistic twat, wants to see more female riders out there, having fun and taking part, but we have a long way to go before we have parity. Heck, if we ever get to the point where a quarter of riders at an event are female we'll have improved things, and maybe LGC won't be as necessary as it is now. But until then it won't be going anywhere.