Feb. 23 around a dozen students gathered at California State University, Monterey Bay’s (CSUMB) Otter Cross Cultural Center (OC3) for a panel discussion with Queer Ascents on queer representation and inclusion in climbing culture.
Queer Ascents is an organization based in San Luis Obispo focussed on bringing members of the LGBTQIA+ community into the outdoors through the sport of rock climbing. Queer Ascents seeks to create a welcoming space for people of diverse backgrounds within a sport dominated mainly by cisgender, heterosexual, white men.
“We don’t really see as much diverse representation in the climbing world,” said Mackenzie Shuman, president and founder of Queer Ascents. “But there’s a lot of queer climbers out there … we’re out there, we’re climbing hard, and we’re doing really cool stuff.”
Since founding the organization last year, Queer Ascents has been wildly successful in bringing more people into the sport. According to Shuman, the organization has regular meet-ups and over 100 people on its email list.
“I wanted to join a climbing group in general and there was nothing in San Luis Obispo that existed at the time. Being queer myself, I really wanted more community in San Luis Obispo anyway, so why not just create it myself?” Shuman said.
“Climbing in and of itself is a very community oriented sport. You go to the [climbing] gym and you spend half your time just talking to your friends,” said Shuman, noting that this provides a unique outlet for the LGBTQIA+ community which has traditionally been centered around nightlife and other urban activities.
Shuman recalled a moment at one of Queer Ascents earlier meet-ups when, “somebody came up to me after and said ‘that’s the first time I’ve ever seen that many gay men in San Luis Obispo outside of a bar setting.’”
Some of the panel audience wondered, “What would it take to bring this to CSUMB?”
“You just need somebody to initiate it,” said Jesse Cabacungan, Queer Ascents’s incoming president.
“You just have to create something to give people that sense of belonging,” Cabacungan remarked, noting that many members of the LGBTQIA+ community can feel intimidated when first joining a sport such as rock climbing.
In hopes of creating this sort of community and inclusivity at CSUMB, OC3 and CSUMB’s Recreation Department have partnered with Sanctuary Climbing (https://www.rockgym.com/) and Fitness in Seaside to host a climbing meetup for Black, Indigenous and people of color on March 1.
The meetup is designed to welcome new climbers from diverse backgrounds to the sport, covering the costs of gear rentals and gym passes.
Karen Maldonado, student coordinator for OC3, noted that while climbing can be an expensive and sometimes daunting activity to become involved with, its potential for creating close connections is unparalleled as, “it’s a very vulnerable sport.”
Though a lot of people might not know much about rock climbing, Maldonado envisions a future of “inclusivity, diversity, equity and making it more accessible for everyone of all communities.”