"I'm Someone Who Feels Marginalized When I Run"

In 2021, NYRR launched the Non-Binary Equity and Inclusion (NBEI) initiative to provide runners of all gender identities with the ability to run in a safe, competitive, and friendly environment that is equitable, accessible, inclusive, fair, and free of discrimination. As part of the initiative, NYRR participants have the option to choose their gender (man, woman, or non-binary) in their NYRR profile.

We spoke to gender non-conforming runners about their running experiences. Answers have been condensed and lightly edited.

Leesh Menard
Dyckman Run Club

Photo provided by Marathon Foto.

Leesh (they/them), 27, identifies as non-binary trans with an agender microlabel. Leesh is a Ph.D. student at Columbia University and does research for the New York State Psychiatric Institute.

Are you planning to run the Pride Run this year?

I am. It is fun to show up and have it be thousands of people and see everyone dressed up. There are so few opportunities to feel loud and proud in running spaces. My goal is to go and be visible and have fun and see my community out in numbers.

I'm trying to decide what to wear. I got top surgery, so I'm trying to think of a fun outfit to wear post-surgery.

What got you interested in running?

I started to stay in shape for other sports as a three-season athlete. Then it just became its own love.

Can you talk about your graduate work and research?

I am a full-time Ph.D. student at the School of Social Work at Columbia. I'm looking at transgender health disparities and health care access. I also have a job at the New York State Psychiatric Institute where I do research looking at transgender people with substance use. We're creating a treatment for people who are transgender that deals with gender-specific issues that lead to alcohol use.
 
What would you say to people who don't have much experience with non-binary or trans people and want to learn more?

There's a lot online, and I really encourage people to start there. If you know a non-binary trans person and they're willing to teach you, I think that's great. But I think that there is this expectation that non-binary people, especially, are going to educate you on the issues, and that's an unfair expectation. I don't think that it's always fun to have to explain your identities and your existence. It's a lot of pressure.

Not every person who is non-binary or trans is an activist, and they don't necessarily know the stats and the resources. They just know their personal identity. When talking to them, be kind and think about why you want to know the answers to those questions, what’s appropriate, and if you would ask that version of a question to a cis person. Just be respectful.

How do you identify? 

I identify as non-binary trans or trans non-binary. A micro label, which I would never expect the average person to know, I identify as agender, which means I don’t really have a gender. I don’t see myself as a man or a woman or both. It’s not something that really resonates with me.

Trans is an umbrella term that not all trans non-binary people claim, but it just means you don’t identify with the sex you were assigned at birth. My sex assigned at birth was non non-binary, so I feel like I am captured in that trans label as well.

Do you believe that visibility and representation of gender non-conforming runners is important? 

It’s important to have non-binary people in running, especially when we think about our youth. People aspire to be things they can see and things they can see themselves in and if there’s not visibility, I think there’s a lot of youth that are going to get lost.

Before NYRR had a non-binary category, how did you register and how did that make you feel?

I registered as female, and that was really stressful to me. It made me feel really gross and icky and just kind of sad. I think the running community is not very LGBTQ-inclusive in general, and then to feel like not only are there not a lot of us there, but you can’t exist at all because there’s not an option – that felt really bad.

Before they introduced the non-binary category, they automatically gave you the shirt of the gender you were registered as. For me, the woman’s cut gives me a lot of gender dysphoria. I didn’t even want to wear the race shirts. Every time I had to register, I was like, OK, I have to pretend to be a woman for a day.

What can running organizations and events do to make you feel more welcome?

There are simple things, like make sure you have gender-neutral facilities. Language is really important. Changing the shirt categories from women and men to tapered and straight cut—that would be so easy to do.

Training for staff and volunteers [is important]. You’re crossing that finish line and there’s nothing worse than being misgendered: “Look at her go!” Introduce gender-neutral language and have training on basic terms.
 
The ability for fluidity is really big – being able to change your name and gender on the website. Making those things easier and more accessible is really important. A lot of non-binary people don’t have the resources to change their name [legally] because it’s expensive, but that doesn’t mean that their chosen name isn’t important to them.

I’m someone who feels marginalized when I run. There’s women’s runs and there’s LGBTQ runs but there’s not a non-binary run event. I think that’s just something to consider.

Want more? Read about:

• Kester Antiquina's story: Running to Be Seen and Recognized
• Erika Kaiser's story: The Importance of Trans and Non-Binary Acceptance
• LGBTQIA+ organizations doing work in the community
• NYRR's Non-Binary Equity and Inclusion initiative

The runners interviewed will be taking part in the Front Runners New York LGBT Pride Run in Central Park on June 24. Come out and support all the runners at this sold-out race.