Any LGBT 14er finishers?

[terribletigzy]

I don't think the OP got demeaning responses at all. And no-one was talking down to anyone (I think?). On top of that, the OP did not give a sexual orientation or reason why.

I just think its just a non-issue. The community accepts whoever regardless of age, race, gender, sexual orientation, religious beliefs, bad grammar, or food preferences. Its not an issue so don't make it one.

This has massive "white man claims we live in a post-racial society because he has never experienced racism" energy. You don't know the experience of others, and what it is like to live in their skin.

Case in point. I'm more put off by this post than any other in the thread. The irony. We all choose what offends us.

I would love for you to elaborate on the irony of this post. I was offended by someone's decision to make a post that was directly offensive to many members of this community (as you can see by the many responses in this thread). Don't be butt hurt because you can't freely speak hate anymore.

It's funny how defensive people get when they are called out on not being nearly as accepting and caring as they are pretending to be. There's a whole lot of discussion about why we don't need to discuss the LGBT hiking community with a meaningless "but I am sooooo accepting" at the end of the post. Impeding the discussion of uncomfortable topics is a tactic that has been used forever to keep the oppressed communities oppressed. Conversation and discussion is a very important tool for true acknowledgement and acceptance of all marginalized communities. The LGBT communities have experienced horrendous oppression and hate through the years, and continue to do so today. This is quite possibly one of the most important topics to draw attention to.

[madbuck]

This became an interesting discussion IMHO and I hope we have things to think about. There are those that are saying “It doesn’t matter to me, I’m blind to X/Y/Z,” I don’t think you should be painted as a terrible person. I get it: hiking is more of a “verb” identity, and you truly feel the kinship with those that are out there doing the same thing. Sometimes the backlash lumps people that are ignorant (not meant as a pejorative but just in the literal sense of ignoring something) together with people that are deliberately negative and harmful. Omission vs. Commission. I can see how that’s counterproductive, and in more extreme cases also appears to be close-minded, but I hope optimistically you consider things a bit more.

Another way we might be talking past each other is that I think some are reacting to the concept of carving up identities for achievement; i.e., trying to be the first of some group mostly for attention. While the OP didn’t state the reason for the question, others clarified why they thought it was a useful question. When some people continued to push back – arguing with people who thought it was an interesting topic and obstinately continuing to argue that in some objective way it is not – that’s where I think it’s problematic.

There are several “life philosophies” in this thread, so another one I’ll offer is that if something is important to a group of people, it is counterproductive to argue that in some way they are objectively wrong for thinking it is important.

Personally I think there’s all kinds of ways the question is interesting. To start, yes, people are looking for their tribe: we have loads of comments topics here on your favorite music (not, like, producing or creating music, but heavily tying one’s identity to what you listen to) and sports teams. "Native" bumper stickers. Spectator identities, if you will, that are chosen, barely interesting, and pose no real barriers. But on to LGBT 14er finishers: sure, it is easier and more accepting in 2024, although still there are barriers and it would be interesting to hear what they are. It’s also convenient that we’re talking about Colorado (and maybe CA/WA/AK) and not, say, the Deep South. But what’s the history? What are the stories? If someone did something 50+ times, were there any issues along the way? People coming out as teenagers/young adults now were born, like, after 2000. What was it like in the 1980’s with fear during the AIDS epidemic? Heck, did anybody encounter issues (negative or positive) with SAR or emergency medical services? What about hiking openly with your partner? Finding other partners? Could somebody have put a rainbow flag bumper sticker or something else supportive on their car and had no problems at trailheads 50+ times in the 80s?

And arguably event “LGBT” isn’t all encompassing and has more nuances. Transgender likely has unique challenges, even small things like clothes and gear. Are there different levels of acceptance and barriers for lesbians vs. gay men? Differences in participation percentages?
Statistically, what can we *really* say about the girl in the green Subaru?

[Rampaging Baloths]

Transgender likely has unique challenges, even small things like clothes and gear. Are there different levels of acceptance and barriers for lesbians vs. gay men?

I just want to talk about gear for a second because it is something that has been an interesting experience for me. I am transfeminine. Meaning I went MtF but prefer a middleground. Whatever. Been on Estrogen for coming on 7 years. I started when I was 20 and am now 27 so I went through the puberty of my birth sex but also went through another puberty of the opposite my birth sex. I have weird body proportions that has made it interesting to find gear that fits. I mostly mix Men and Women's, since its gear who cares what gender its 'suppossed' to be for. Just speaking from sizing and the like.

Boots: All men's boots and shoes. My feet are a men's 11 and they don't make womens' that big. So I have men's trail runners, a mens' approach shoes, mens' climbing shoes, mens' snow and mountaineering boots etc.

Pants: I have some mens and some womens but it is really annoying sometimes. I have hips now. Like not huge hips but I have some mass down there from years of fat redistribution. The womens' pants often fits my profile a little better but is often too short. The mens' pants fits the length but not the proportions and can be boxy. As in, if they fit my hips they are often way to big for my waist. I have found a few pairs of pants from the men's I do like though so most of my pants for outdoors stuff are mens.

Harnesses and the like: All womens. Going back to my hip thing, the womens' harnesses can have accommodations for hips and the like, so I use exclusively women's harnesses.

Tops: All womens. I have found brands that fit me long enough (mainly in my trunk). I could use mens' stuff here but I prefer the womens' cut stuff. It looks a little better and I have the profile for it.

Shells: A mix. Whatever fits. Some of the womens' stuff is good some of the mens' stuff is good.


Rest of the gear just doesn't matter.

I will say I vastly prefer the more color options the womens' have and how much better it can be. Especially shoes. TX4. My favorite all time shoe. Orange and gray. Womens? They get a pretty blue color. Why can't the men have that too. Again, it doesn't matter because its a shoe I only wear to hike and scramble and climb but like. Come on La Sportiva.

[Skimo95]

This forum is worth its weight in gold…

[SchralpTheGnar]

This forum is worth its weight in gold…

bitcoin

[cedica]

I suspect it's Giorgia Meloni's fault that La Sportiva dropped this color scheme: https://www.rei.com/product/866951/la-s ... boots-mens

Everything was so much more relaxed back in Berlusconi's bunga-bunga times.

[Alpine_Iris]

I am looking for a queer women's 14ers group. Anyone know of any?

I'm not a finisher, but I am definitely interested in a queer women's 14ers group! Perhaps we can organize something on a less toxic platform.

[SnowAlien]

I suspect it's Giorgia Meloni's fault that La Sportiva dropped this color scheme: https://www.rei.com/product/866951/la-s ... boots-mens
Everything was so much more relaxed back in Berlusconi's bunga-bunga times.

Absolutely. Very muted color scheme, at least for men's, although I'm not sure anymore

[montanahiker]

Food for thought: If we can't talk about LGBTQ involvement in the hiking community without people trying to shut down the conversation or getting defensive, then the community isn't very accepting.

Nobody forced anyone to participate in that discussion topic. If you disliked that someone brought it up, a reasonable course of action would have been to keep scrolling. That would have been a respectful and tolerant response, as opposed to getting defensive and trying to rationalize why nobody should talk about it.

Another perspective would be that if people can't handle others disagreeing with them and get defensive about anything short of celebrating group identity then the community isn't very accepting. Nobody forced anyone to start a discussion that some people couldn't handle disagreement with. If people want echo-chamber discussions and pats on the back there are plenty of subreddits for that.

I'm all for celebrating individual goals and accomplishments but attaching any kind of demographic box-checking group identity to it when that has nothing to do with the accomplishment always feels like begging for bonus points.

[justiner]

I think the difference is that there is actually violence being directed towards the group, sometimes in the shadows of 14ers, making this less of an abstract issue. The Club Q shooting wasn't all that long again in Colorado Springs, as well as harboring hate-based organizations that spread misinformation.

[ekalina]

Another perspective would be that if people can't handle others disagreeing with them and get defensive about anything short of celebrating group identity then the community isn't very accepting.

This is a false equivalence. I want to be accepting of others and how they differ from me. I do not want to be accepting of ideas that trend towards non-acceptance of others, silencing others, or towards discrimination. When the latter exists, we cannot achieve the former.

[crossfitter]

Remember folks, if you can't be first, just add new and more adjectives in front of your accomplishment so that your mediocrity can be celebrated, allowing your narcissism to be satiated.

Personally I'm holding out to celebrate the first left-handed, ESTP, restless-leg-symdrome survivor, born on Nov 17 finisher