Over the weekend, Academic Grappling and KruFit hosted the 2nd annual Lez Roll Radio Queer Grappling Camp. The hosts of Lez Roll Radio and the organizers of the event, Kelly and Andrea, truly outdid themselves this year. With last year’s inaugural camp going over so smoothly, there was a lot of hype to live up to this time around.

But to the surprise of absolutely no one, the hype train was warranted and the event went over perfectly. Friday night we had check in and an open mat, as well as a social event in the evening. Saturday, we were once again privy to some wonderful instruction. Joshua Murdock of Pedigo Submission Fighting opened things up Saturday morning and was followed by a competition training run by Andrea Schoenegge. The afternoon session was run by Jon Aimone, who was followed by Jamie Bradley who taught an intro to muay thai. After another open mat, we went out for yet another social activity. Sunday, Natasha Wolf of Carmel Judo taught an intro to Judo course, after which Jennifer Risser taught a kimura trap sequence. 

At the end of all of the training and instructional sessions, there was a large group discussion in which everyone present sat in a circle, asked questions, and gave their thoughts and ideas. It was affirming to hear from so many members of the LGBT+ community who train Jiu-Jitsu. As was discussed in last year’s blog on the event, the BJJ community has not always been - and often still is not - very welcoming to those who identify as LGBT+. Given the current political climate, our training partners and friends who are trans have it especially hard.

So it should be no surprise that so many questions and so much of the discussion was dedicated to how to find a gym that is accepting. The point was made that even tolerance or acceptance is a start, but also not necessarily enough. Then the question arose, “How do we make more safe spaces?”

A few people offered their thoughts and ideas on it and had some good things to say; including visibility and how important it is to be visible as a queer person and to be loud and unapologetic about it. We discussed how important representation is within a gym when looking for a place to call home, but again, even that isn’t enough.

In order to make Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu a safe sport for members of the LGBT+ community, we need to do the work. And it does take work. Angela Davis presciently titled one of her books, Freedom is a Constant Struggle; meaning that the work never truly ceases. For those who identify as LGBT+, that struggle has been ongoing for decades. The most memorable act of struggle for liberation would be that Stonewall Riots; wherein the police were doing what they do and harassing queer individuals based on the anti-gay laws that existed at the time. While police on the “Morals Squad” attempted to arrest folks for cross dressing, heroic trans woman Marsha P. Johnson threw the first brick that set things off.

Frantz Fanon said, “... a system established by violence can logically only be faithful to itself and its duration in time depends on… the maintenance of violence… it is also a violence of the daily behavior of the colonizer towards the colonized”. Applied to Stonewall, this would refer to the unjust anti-gay laws and the police as the violent system; the humiliation of being lined up and searched while another officer went down the line demanding to see the genitals of everyone was a form of violence police used on top of the physical and sexual violence they were all too happy to dole out, completely unpunished. In order to maintain those “morality” laws - or the system Fanon refers to - police had to continually implement said violence. It wasn’t until violence was met with violence that the laws began to change. Because of that, Stonewall stands out as a strong, liberatory event for the LGBT+ community.

But the work didn’t end after the riots in New York and elsewhere. The physical and sexual violence that still plague queer and trans folks is still astronomical. In 2017, researcher Andrew Flores produced a study that showed members of minority sexuality and gender groups experience violence from others at a rate of 71 per 1000 individuals, vs 19 per 1000 that straight and cis individuals face. And as the alphabet of the LGBT+ splits into even smaller subsections, we find that our trans friends and loved ones experience the most violence. While this study was done in 2017, the political rhetoric against queer and trans folks has drastically come to the forefront of political life and discussion. Violence has increased alongside this resurgence of demonizing queer and trans folks.

So back to the question, “How do we make more safe spaces?”

The vague, general answer is still: work. But what can that look like? Well, for starters, our gym organized a trans rights march in which we populated the sidewalk outside the home of a state legislator who writes anti-trans legislation and made plenty of noise for her. Arroyo Grappling held an event in which trans, non-binary, and genderfluid folks were able to compete together without fear of reprisal or rejection. Third Ward BJJ is a grant recipient for the Better Fight Fellowship, which allows them to bring in LGBT+ instructors from all over the country to teach at their gym, while also providing an exclusively LGBT+ class on a regular basis. And wouldn’t you know it, Lez Roll organizes an annual Queer Grappling Camp.

These are all forms of resistance to oppression. These are all things that by their very nature make participants more visible, and shine a light on our community where there would normally be none. In combat sports, and especially MMA and BJJ, we are often asked to shrink ourselves and be less visible; preferably invisible and quiet. But if we are to make changes in the wider Jiu-Jitsu community, we have to continue the work of liberation. It is a struggle. It is far more than just representation and visibility. Representation without the work is just pandering; marketing to the LGBT+ community in hopes that they will give you money simply for being just like them.

But that’s not us. We will carry on as we do; being loud and pushing back against the status quo with direct actions and active involvement in LGBT+ causes. Because being queer is work, not a marketing strategy.