It’s been 10 years since Harry Nicholas transitioned, but he still feels anxious every time he steps into a gym. That anxiety was still there when he took part in the London Pride Ride, Misfits’ largest ever LGBTQ+ group fitness event, at 1Rebel gym in Victoria.
“I felt the normal nervousness you feel when entering a new place for the first time, but I also felt some trans-specific anxiety. [wondering if] “The shower is private, and I was worried that people would criticize my figure or my scars,” he says. But he needn’t have worried: “From the moment I walked in, I immediately felt safe and at home.”
Gyms have a reputation, deserved or not, of being intimidating places – hyper-masculine and elitist – but in recent years many have been working to change perceptions, either through one-off classes (such as Cycle’s accessible spin classes for the deaf community) or longer-term initiatives (Sport England’s “This Girl Can” campaign, which aims to close the fitness gap between men and women).
But for many LGBTQ+ people, there are still barriers that prevent them from going to the gym, from childhood trauma or bullying, to concerns about gender-segregated spaces like changing rooms. Out For Sport, a LGBTQ+ access campaigner part of Sport England, found that one in four queer people cited “negative experiences of sport at school” as a reason for avoiding exercise as an adult, and one in eight LGBT people said they avoid going to the gym for fear of discrimination or harassment.
Misfits wants to change that. Founded by the charity Not A Phase and backed by Nike, the group of fitness experts offers training, wellness and self-defence programmes across the UK, and has become a key resource for members of all genders who want to feel safe while they’re moving.
The London Pride Ride brought together 40 trans people from across the country. The event combined spin class and queer rave, where attendees enjoyed an energetic set by DJ Xzan, best known as the resident DJ at queer party space Galpals.
“The classroom space was amazing,” Nicholas says. “It was dark and had a club-like feel. And like a club, I loved the anonymity of the space. I felt like no one would notice or care if I messed up, or slowed down, or sped up. The darkness was liberating.”
A community of misfits
“A real sense of camaraderie emerges through the Misfits sessions,” says Dani St. James, CEO of Not A Phase, who co-created Misfits with her husband, Alix Madison Anson Jones, a Not A Phase board member. “Our goal was to give people a place to belong. [in which] I hope they leave with a sense of self-confidence and a belief that they can achieve anything.”
Matt Williams and Megs Mason are Misfits trainers who led this year’s Pride Ride. Williams started working with Misfits as a yoga teacher. [queer and trans] “We felt that community, yoga, and meditation were the perfect tools to offer,” they say. Meanwhile, Mason wants to ensure that everyone has the opportunity to achieve their fitness goals without feeling criticized or judged for their body, because the benefits of exercise are life-enhancing.
Gender dysphoria — the distress felt when one’s gender identity doesn’t match their assigned sex — is often exacerbated in gym spaces. “By providing a safe space where people can grow and reconnect with their bodies, we can break down these barriers,” Mason says.
“Gyms, and sports in general, can be very masculine, male-dominated, very binary spaces,” Williams said, adding that the inclusiveness at Misfits extends not just to gender identity but also to fitness ability. “As trainers, it’s our job to make sure everyone feels seen and valued in class.”
A simple act of allyship
As well as being a member of Misfits, Nicholas also plays for the LGBTQ+ touch rugby team, West London Warriors, and he says being part of the team has played a pivotal role in his life as a transgender man. “Since physically transitioning, I’ve been able to get back into sport, but it’s only because of LGBTQ+ dedicated sporting organisations that are welcoming and understand the barriers that trans people face,” he says.
Many trans men have undergone gender-reassignment surgery, including “top surgery” to remove chest and breast tissue. Some also train while wearing binders, which are compression vests that flatten the chest. Still others feel more comfortable in gender-neutral locker rooms. A general awareness of these experiences is something all gyms can practice.
At the Pride Ride event, Nicholas says he felt a sense of safety and belonging. “I used the men’s locker room and there were several trans men there and it was so nice to see people with body types like me – some with scars on their chests, some with hairy bodies, some with bigger bodies,” he says. “I felt completely normal. It was nice not to have to hide my scars or wear a towel around my waist to hide parts of my body. I could just be myself.”
For the rest of 2024, Misfits’ events calendar is packed with free classes across the UK, including an introductory session for transgender swimmers in Bristol, a “mindful movement” class in Brighton and a self-defence class held at the Nike store in Battersea Power Station.
But outside these spaces, the situation doesn’t look so rosy. When US gym chain Planet Fitness introduced an inclusive locker room policy earlier this year, it received a number of complaints from members, compounded when a member was banned for posting photos of a transgender gym-goer online, for violating the gym’s mobile device policy against taking photos in changing rooms.
In the UK, gym chain David Lloyd recently had to clarify its position on access to changing rooms that match gender identity after claiming in 2019 that transgender members had to show a Gender Recognition Certificate to use changing rooms. The chain has since confirmed that transgender people can use whichever changing room they prefer.
While transgender people’s accessibility needs may make their experiences unique, what’s clear from Misfits events is that our shared passion for movement and self-expression has the power to transcend boundaries of gender and sexuality and instead remind us of our common humanity.
Find out more about Misfits and Not A Phase here , as well as a full calendar of UK events.
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