Meghan "Migzy" McGuire’s Bigfoot magazine is geared toward skaters who are women; people of marginalized ethnicities; people with disabilities; and those who identify with non-binary, trans, and queer communities. The name comes from McGuire’s experience skating in the 1990s, when women skaters were often overshadowed by the more dominant male skaters, and seeing a woman skater was like sighting “Bigfoot.” The magazine concept germinated at Ashland skatepark. Click below for their event map.

Brian Anderson gained notoriety in 1996 and soon became one of the most popular skaters in the sport. In 2016 he was the first high-profile pro skater to come out as gay. “I think a part of me was so irritated and angry from holding that in," he told Vice, "so it made me more of an animal on my skateboard.” A symbol for the LGBTQ+ community, he took an active role in public awareness and donates proceeds of his zine to The Trevor Project. Brian skates, and unclogs drains, at Coleman Skate Park.

Stevil Kinevil designed transgender skater Cher Strauberry’s first signature deck “...to recognize and honor the diversity of the community who frequents the parking lot where we first met.” In her Vans video, Cher proclaims, “Now that we’ve put this hole in the wall, there will be trans girls and boys who will skate better than us, be more confident in themselves, be more outspoken, who will just know more than we knew.” After years away, her love of skating was rekindled at Embarcadero Plaza.

Jeffrey Cheung is a California-based artist who wanted to provide a safe environment for queer skaters who might face ridicule and shame at skate parks. He started Unity Skateboarding with his Unity Press zines, spreading the word among the LGBTQ+ skateboarding community, while also promoting Queer Skate Days at local parks. Cheung told Vice, “I am hoping that by being an all-inclusive project, it could be a bigger idea than a gay skate company—and that we can break down barriers together.”

When Leo Baker won gold at the 2014 X-Games, it was on their own terms—as a queer skater. “...for a long time the industry wanted to shape me in a way that wasn’t me," they told Huck magazine. "To be unapologetic about my image and who I am and then to have people acknowledge how important that is in the skate industry...I can’t even describe how that feels.” A trans non-binary skater, Baker is featured in a Smithsonian exhibit dealing with the struggle for equal opportunity in sports.

froSkate is a Chicago based, non-profit skate collective providing safe spaces for women, BlPOC, gender non-conforming, and the LGBTQ+ community. In 2019, founder Karlie Thornton grew froSkate to over 23,000 followers, garnering local and national media attention, and hosted hundreds of community events. Their motto, “All Love, No Hate”, professes the need for inclusion and positivity in this fast-growing pocket of the skate community. Karlie brought her message to Brazil at the close of 2023.

Along with Thornton, froSkate VP L. Brew became the first Black gender non-conforming person to design a Nike SB Dunk. “I never knew other Black women or queer folks who skated until I discovered the group. froSkate changed my life, and I knew I wanted to help others reap those same benefits.” As the shoes scuff, new colors are revealed, marking a skater’s progress. During a San Diego State U. conference, Smithsonian curator Jane Rogers invited L. to add a pair of her Nike's to our collection.

Quell Skateboarding was a media platform for women, focusing on non-traditional skateboarders, including trans women and men and non-binary skaters. Founded in New York City in 2017 by Adrian Koenigsberg, Quell Magazine included personal skateboarding stories from both professional, amateur, and recreational skaters. Quell covered NYC's first all women and non-binary skateboarding competition at Blue Park. Quell stopped operations in October of 2021, but a magazine and podcast archive lives on.

Pave the Way skateboards, created by writer and performer Tara Jepsen and graphic artist and teacher Miriam Klein Stahl, celebrates being queer and living life through skate without fear of self-expression. Jepsen and Stahl’s board depicts LGBTQ+ icons who modeled an ethos of acceptance reflected in their impact on skate culture. Stahl 's favorite parks include Garvanza Park in Los Angeles, as well as the Rockridge BART station in San Francisco.

A Place at the Park: LGBTQ+ Inclusion and Skateboarding was a 2019 featured blog post at the Smithsonian's National Museum of American History. Sports curator Jane Rogers focuses on Olympic, Paralympic, extreme, and adaptive sports history, detailing the innovative growth of these sports. She also studies the effect sports plays in the LGBTQ+ and differently abled communities, and the social and cultural impact sports have had on the American narrative.