Skate scenes around the UK have long been populated by predominantly straight, white males. As a result women, people of colour, and queer people have been left on the sidelines. However, thanks to Sky Browns bronze medal at the Tokyo Games and the unlikely boom of skateboarding during the pandemic, female and queer focused skate crews and sessions are cropping up all over the UK.

One of those is Queer Skate South Wales, founded by Joe and his partner Meg. They describe the community as a safe and open space to skate, that's dominated by queers.

Hosting queer skate sessions at Spit and Sawdust skatepark, they offer up the park for experienced skaters to shred, or new beginners to learn in an inclusive environment.

The community is quickly growing, seeing people travel from all over the UK to attend the events.

This shift in the sport is creating space for people of different identities to support each other and find community through skating.

Here we meet a selection of people who are members of the Cardiff Queer Skate community. Some of them discuss their love for skating, and why the queer skate sessions are important to them.

Cora at Spit and Sawdust

Axel Stall

_{Spit and Sawdust is one of Cardiff's indoor skateparks. It's located off Newport Road, and it's worth checking out even if you don't skate. They host art events, skate sessions, skate lessons, serve amazing food and have south wales' largest vert ramp. Right now, it's also where skaters in and around Cardiff meet for queer skate events.

When Cora isn't at Spit and Sawdust skating, they work on their queer-run clothing brand Weird Wednesday, and part time as a support worker. They started skating 3 years ago, and can be found at most queer skate and sisters of sawdust sessions. Here they are pictured performing an axel stall and wearing a Protect Trans Kids t-shirt.}

When Nanci is asked how she meets other queer people, her response is now "skateboarding!".

She describes the scene and events as having a "great atmosphere full of lovely people, where [she] feels at home." A lot of friends that Nanci skates with identify as queer, so having queer skate events make for not only a great skate session, but an important safe space for people to meet each other and network.

"Having my own skate friends definitely took away the fear of showing up to a skatepark, it helped show me that the skate community as a whole isn't that bad, or exclusive. Anyone can take part, and we're proving that."

As a teenager Nanci would ride a BMX, and years later this encouraged her to try skateboarding. After seeing an ad on Facebook for a Prom Queens girls skate session, her and a friend firmly planted their feet on four wheels for the first time.

"I was so scared at first, that I would feel older than everyone and out of place, but there were people of all ages at the park, all supporting each other. I loved it right away, and I've been skating ever since."

Joe has been shredding the parks of South Wales for just over 2 years. He recalls getting a skateboard at a time in his life where he could invest in an "expensive toy and essentially claim back lost time and youth."

As one of the organisers behind the queer skate sessions, Joe explains how the skate community has grown exponentially over the past few months and why he wanted to set up queer skate events in the first place.

"Skateboarding is a sport of outcasts, we're freaks and geeks."

"Organising this has been a way to provide a place for people to reclaim a lost youth of their own. If they were bullied or outcast, this is the place where they can come to be accepted."

"I would watch a lot of trans and non binary folk misgender themselves to attend the girls sessions which had become a safe space to them, and still is. But I thought, well as a queer person I want in. I want to skate with these people too!"

"We approached Spit and Sawdust about our idea and held our first event in July this summer."

"While the majority of men are incredibly welcoming, surely its understandable, especially for beginners, stepping into a male dominated sport is intimidating and can make women/lgbtq+ people feel vulnerable."

- Laura

Laura remembers when the only way to communicate with other female or queer skaters was through MySpace. After taking a long hiatus from skating she's polished off her bag of tricks and is extremely supportive of the new scene.

"Women and LGBT+ sessions undoubtably bring more people into the sport who otherwise wouldn't have tried it. These people then support their local skatepark and skate shops. It's a good thing for everyone."

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