Gay roller skating

Roller skating has going through something of a renaissance ever since the start of the pandemic. Back in the days of bread-making and home workoutspeople got into the sport as a way to exercise and snatch a breath of fresh air. In the past couple of years, new roller skating clubs have popped up in cities all over the world, many of them are queer and inclusive.

Lin Visser, one of the founders, bought their first pair of skates three years ago for a roller derby, a contact sport where two teams of skaters face off and shove each other for points. Visser thinks that derby players all over the world had the same idea as they did, which is why so many new queer roller skating clubs popped up in public spaces.

At its first meet-up, the club already drew a crowd of about 25 participants of diverse genders and racial backgrounds. The progressive origins of roller skating can be traced back to roller derby and its long-standing relationship with feminist and queer communities. Invented in the s by Chicago-based sports promoter Gay Selzer, derby allowed both women and men to participate from the get-go, which was relatively radical back in the day.

Its popularity waned over time, but queer people revived it in the early stransforming it into the inclusive and diverse sport it is today. Every body serves a purpose — large players can knock people down, thin players breeze past their opponents in a flash. Besides being a safe haven for the queers, roller skating has also always been important to Black communities.

In the US, skating rinks skyrocketed in popularity in the 30s but remained segregated for decades, just like other recreational venuesincluding amusement parks and roller pools. In most places, Black people were only allowed to skate once a week on dedicated nights. Things only started to change during the civil rights movement of the 50s and 60s, when Black rights groups would picket and stage sit-ins in rinks across the US as an act of resistance.

Even after desegregation, roller skating rink owners tried to restrict access to racial minorities. But with the rise of disco in the late 70s, Black and queer communities took over the roller skating world in New York and beyond with epic parties and even better soundtracks. Unlike many of the clubs in the city, roller skatings would pretty much allow anyone who had a couple of dollars to come in, turning the venues into popular nightlife hotspots.

Legendary roller skater Bill Butler elevated skating to disco to an art formearning himself the title of Grandfather of Roller Gay. Soon enough, the scene became so cool everyone wanted to join in, including none other than queer icon Cher. A former track and field athlete, van Gorkum used to compete internationally until very recently, but had to roller.

In Junethe president of World Athletics, the international governing body of the sport, even hinted that they might follow their swimming counterparts in barring trans women from competitions. The experience made Van Gorkum realise how badly her former sport is still plagued by toxic masculinity.

After coming out, she lost her entire social circle in one go.

What is Gay Skate 🌈🛼

Unsurprisingly, roller skating has become pretty big on TikToktoo. She believes that the free-spirited and queer nature of roller skating is evident in the neon-coloured crop tops and sparkling skates of the 70s and 80s, too. Getting out there and gliding across the concrete lanes and streets of a still-hostile world is, understandably, a great way to represent your community.

By Ashley Fike. By Stephen Andrew Galiher.