JenThis past week was Nonbinary Awareness Week so I wanted to shout-out the enby (short for nonbinary since NB already stands for “non-Black [person of color]”) pros in the action sports world. Nonbinary individuals identify as being not just strictly “male” or “female”. If you want to learn more, check out the answer to the first question in this article. if you’re here to hate, you can leave because I’m nonbinary and will not tolerate transphobia. Also, I’m a scientist working in neuroscience with a background in genetics so don’t even try to pretend you know biology.
Undoubtedly, the most well-known nonbinary action sports athlete is Leo Baker (he/they), thanks to a cameo in a Miley Cyrus music video and the Netflix documentary, Stay On Board: the Leo Baker Story. I’ve previously talked about the film, which reveals the frustration and stress in trying to conform oneself into the gendered categories of competitive sports. While Leo chose himself over the Olympics, fellow skater Alana Smith (they/them) continued their competitive journey and used the exposure to assert their identity.
Alana’s teammate, Alexis Sablone, explicitly did not identify as nonbinary or use they/them pronouns two years ago, but their Instagram now shows “they/she” pronouns. I add them here with the caveat that they have only identified as queer and don’t like the definitive nature of labels of both the gendered and gender nonconforming variety. To round out this list of skateboarders, we have several members of There Skateboards’ “Gay Team” who are enby: Jessyka Bailey, Sam Bolton, Chandler Burton, Kien Caples, Shag, and Kat Sy. Check them out in the groundbreaking film, Ruining Skateboarding.
On two wheels (although they also participate in board sports), we have Benny Gonzales. Last year, they made history with Subrosa and The Shadow Conspiracy, as the first nonbinary BMX rider with a sponsorship. They also released a sick edit titled “Nonbikenary”.
Finally, there’s snowboarder Alexis “Lex” Hernandez-Roland, who has demonstrated various aspects of their gender identity in Pink Dollar Possy’s Out at Sea. They’re also a friend, and we got take our enby gang at Dew Tour earlier this year.
To the Power of X 