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Australian Gyms making the LGBTI community and women feel welcome
From an SMH article By Marnie Vinall 11/11/2021
Jodie Nagyivan used to feel unsafe at the gym. The Aboriginal trans woman, from Gunai Kurnai nation, says it wasn’t unusual for her to experience harassment, with other gym-goers being deliberately intimidating, or gendered microaggressions from trainers who gave her male-centric exercises.
Nagyivan, 28, says she would openly state her fitness goals, her areas of concern for gaining and losing mass, and her desire to look feminine – and yet she was constantly given fitness routines designed for bulking up.
“I would go there [to the gym] and a lot of my experiences were like, ‘well, you clearly look like a guy, so these are the exercises you have to do’,” she says.
As a result, she tried to evade others: “I would show up at the earliest hours, just to try and avoid everybody.”
Nagyivan now trains at a queer and trans-friendly gym called Non Gendered Fitness, in Melbourne’s Ringwood, and she is thrilled to be back now that lockdown has ended. It’s one of several new gyms popping up that offer a safe space for trans, gender diverse and queer folk to train.
“What we found with people who come to our space – and there’s a few others around in Melbourne that are similar – is that it’s more about how do you want to move, what is helping you feel good,” says Bowie Stover, fitness and strength coach at Non Gendered Fitness.
As well as Non Gendered Fitness, in Melbourne’s Ringwood the article also mentions:
- Pony Club Gym in Brunswick
- PRIDE FITNESS in Sydney
Feel free to add any other trans-comfortable gyms you use in the comments…..
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