Any LGBT 14er finishers?

[mtree]

I am not worthy.

[Rampaging Baloths]

I am not going to be a finisher anytime soon (By choice) and I am transgender. Nobody has really given a s**t on any of my outdoor adventures in this state. It just doesn't matter and I am happy to use hiking in the high country as an escape of the day to day bulls**t thats mildly annoying.

I also don't particularly care about being the first x or the first y. I am just me. And I hope people are happy with that. For those who aren't I don't have time for, I have found people who are happy with me and I hike and climb with them.

[Matt]

I am not going to be a finisher anytime soon (By choice) and I am transgender. Nobody has really given a s**t on any of my outdoor adventures in this state. It just doesn't matter and I am happy to use hiking in the high country as an escape of the day to day bulls**t thats mildly annoying.

I also don't particularly care about being the first x or the first y. I am just me. And I hope people are happy with that. For those who aren't I don't have time for, I have found people who are happy with me and I hike and climb with them.

This.

As my hairdresser says, You find your tribe."
I could not care less who people sleep with, what color they are, what they believe happens when they die, or anything that others harp on. These are only part of your vibe and are irrelevant to whether you'd make a good partner.
My tribe does not include people who expect me to self censor or judge me for having different beliefs, regardless of what they might be. I extend the same courtesy. Unless you attack me, I don't care what you believe if we can make a good summit together. I won't hike with someone I don't like, but won't be justifying it with my own prejudices or trying to hurt feelings. It's not that hard.

Tolerance is a two way street and only necessary because people focus on their differences instead of what's in common with others. Maybe not human nature, but definitely 2024 USA nature.
Focusing on labels keeps us from focusing on what we have in common, which in this forum is hiking and climbing high peaks in CO. I'm not a cis-het, I'm a hiker who likes people who are nice to me and who act like they've been there before (a Gladbach phrase IIRC) above and below treeline.

Also, reminder that it's basic human psychology to want to have things in common with others and to have a sense of belonging within a group.

Exactly! And the mountains and the outdoors is what this group of people all have in common here!

Bingo. I'll add that talking down to people is a bad look regardless of how right you (think you) are. All prejudice is stupid prejudice, even if it's considered hip or fits in with dominant social narratives.

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.

[ekalina]

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.

[Istoodupthere]

Let’s be honest. This community isn’t very accepting. I was called a fascist on this site a number of years ago for pushing back on some dude’s opinion that property rights should be ignored. I was shocked to see others back him up. I’m as moderate as they come. Apparently that is a bad thing nowadays. I have no issues with the LGBTQ community. Live your lives how you want. I do have an issue though with the person calling someone a bigot for having the opinion that this isn’t the forum for this topic. The “white man claims we live in a post-racial society because he has never experienced racism" was also way over the top in my opinion. So tolerant responses need to come from both sides of the issue. Is it hiking season yet?

[Ed_Groves]

If members would stop making assumptions about why someone made a post and just take the question at face value, these rabbit holes could be avoided. Answer the question if you can and be done with it. Quit allowing your confirmation bias to fill in the blanks of what you think the OP is really trying to say . . . . on this and numerous other threads.

[12ersRule]

Let’s be honest. This community isn’t very accepting. I was called a fascist on this site a number of years ago for pushing back on some dude’s opinion that property rights should be ignored. I was shocked to see others back him up. I’m as moderate as they come. Apparently that is a bad thing nowadays. I have no issues with the LGBTQ community. Live your lives how you want. I do have an issue though with the person calling someone a bigot for having the opinion that this isn’t the forum for this topic. The “white man claims we live in a post-racial society because he has never experienced racism" was also way over the top in my opinion. So tolerant responses need to come from both sides of the issue. Is it hiking season yet?

Moderate, my ass! I called you a Fascist because you tried to supress someone's voice on the forum....not because of the specific position you held.

Unbelievable that you don't have the self-awareness and the reasoning skills to figure out in 2 years or so why someone might have called you a Fascist. It had nothing to do with Nazi Germany, it had everything to do with you thinking you held a majority opinion on the forum and therefore could tell someone else what they could or couldn't talk about on the forum.

I said I was done with this place, but had to come out of retirement to address this.

[vandy]

Let’s be honest. This community isn’t very accepting. I was called a fascist on this site a number of years ago for pushing back on some dude’s opinion that property rights should be ignored. I was shocked to see others back him up. I’m as moderate as they come. Apparently that is a bad thing nowadays. I have no issues with the LGBTQ community. Live your lives how you want. I do have an issue though with the person calling someone a bigot for having the opinion that this isn’t the forum for this topic. The “white man claims we live in a post-racial society because he has never experienced racism" was also way over the top in my opinion. So tolerant responses need to come from both sides of the issue. Is it hiking season yet?

I didn't call anyone a bigot - you've misread my post. That said, if this forum - created for discussion of hiking 14ers - isn't the right place to discuss aspects of hiking 14ers, what is it for aside from trolling?

[Tony1]

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.

Fully agree with this. I'm not trying to make anything a problem here, I just wish people would be more empathetic and wag more, bark less.

Respectfully, I'd also argue that identification of different identities in a positive manner is a cornerstone of American culture but that's a whole other topic.

Rambling now, but I also want to add that I agree with "the common folk are kept divided by culture wars"...but this still means people are being told "those gays over there are causing trouble!" and I should be able to say something about it when it looks like people are hating.

[SchralpTheGnar]

Yes

[dr_j]

Fully agree with this. I'm not trying to make anything a problem here, I just wish people would be more empathetic and wag more, bark less.

Respectfully, I'd also argue that identification of different identities in a positive manner is a cornerstone of American culture but that's a whole other topic.

Rambling now, but I also want to add that I agree with "the common folk are kept divided by culture wars"...but this still means people are being told "those gays over there are causing trouble!" and I should be able to say something about it when it looks like people are hating.

To answer the question about "why this is even a topic", it comes from persistent stereotypes, that despite many changes in society over the past 20 years, are exactly that, persistent. So when a stereotype is broken, it's visible, it's notable, and it gives one a bit of hope. In the mountain sports world, just think people like Gus Kenworthy in skiing, or Jake Kuzyk in snowboarding, who risked their careers in doing so. Coming out and identifying as LGBT remains a major leap of faith, even today.

OK, back to enjoying the mountain scenery, the peaks and snow, and also the dudes.

[oldschool]

A few thoughts (and some personal experiences).....

My oldest child (she will turn 41 this year) was married to Adam for 13 years. I have my only grandchild from that marriage. After 13 years, my daughter divorced. The divorce caused her pause. She kinda sorta knew things were feeling different for her. She came to understand they were always different. She figured it out. She is now happily married to her wife. As a parent I was and still am thrilled for her. To figure out who we are, what we are, what we want and/or don't want is, IMO, key to living a genuine life.

As I have aged certain mantra's or ways of processing life and the events in life have helped me. As an issue or event comes into my life I ask my ask or remind myself of certain things. The book Meditations by Marcus Aurelius started me down this path.

That which I can control and that which I can't.
The problem is not the problem. The problem is my attitude and judgement about the problem.
I ask myself "Why am I judging this? How does it benefit my life to judge this? What is the purpose of my judgement?"

As I started to read and go through this post I used these. I say "OK" a lot in life these days, especially when it comes to other's lives, their ideas, their values, their opinions. It helps me. In my own life, in that which I am in control of, I am very introspective and challenge myself constantly to understand my thoughts and how they affect me and those around me.

To be a Finisher is something to be proud of, from a personal perspective, IMO. It speaks of effort, time, goal oriented behavior, and probably the help and support of others. Whether that Finisher is gay, straight, trans, missing their left eye, is a vegetarian, a proponent of a specific religion or political ideology, blah, blah, blah is irrelevant to me. Good for them.

Mike