“All in all, if I could just say to these designers, finish strong! You were so close! You almost made a really good women’s performance pant! So why give up on these bits that are so easy? Give us regular pockets and keep your dumb buttons!”

“I don’t know if it was cherishing the outdoors that much more since my access was being restricted, or if it was the sheer amount of time I spent walking past the same trees and plants, but I really started to notice my surroundings in a way I never had before.”

I wrote an article for the Green Mountain Club about How to Start Hiking as an LGBTQ+ Person. This piece includes tips for queer folks who are new to hiking or who need an extra boost of comfort before hitting the trail.

When I spoke to Marley Blonsky, she was several days away from her final day of work in the corporate world. I could sense her excitement seeping through the screen over our Zoom call. Come Friday, she would be a full-time adventurer and advocate for a more inclusive outdoors, more specifically working toward size inclusion in the cycling industry.

“A few years ago I was backpacking the Tour Du Mont Blanc with my dad. It is stunning, and hence, quite a popular route. If you are lucky, maybe you will go 15 minutes without seeing a fellow hiker or mountain biker. Additionally, due to the whole circling Mont Blanc thing, most of it is at altitude and therefore quite exposed. Perhaps you can already see where this is leading.”

“The outdoors has changed my life. It has given me hope, provided me with an opportunity to feel alive, and given me a sense of comfort. But it’s not always rainbows and sunshine outside. The obstacles I have to overcome help prepare me for the emotional obstacles I face on a daily basis.”

“Like so many things when you're queer or trans, you don't know it's an option to not have this background noise of all the things we have to deal with constantly...I didn't realize what a weight that was until getting the opportunity to not have it.”

“I don’t just want queer representation in the industry, I want a thriving queer-dominant sector. No more waiting for the white cishet hegemony to open doors for us, it's time to pick the locks.”

It’s early June and Mikah Meyer is fresh off his first ever bike tour - a 14-day, 363-mile ride along the Oregon coast.

You might know Mikah as the first person ever to visit all 400+ NPS sites in a single trip, or from his advocacy work for the LGBTQ+ community.

“The moment the sun rose above the clouds was almost a spiritual experience - my wife and I both felt emotional as we thought how lucky we were to be in this place at this time, able to witness such a beautiful gift from Mother Earth.”