“Coming out is a huge life moment and can be one of the scariest things ever. I cried for 30 minutes….As an outdoor leader, your job is not to give advice on someone’s identity—it’s to help them feel comfortable in the space. Treat them the same as you treat everyone else,” said ...read more
When you walk into most outdoor retailer shops, you see men’s and women’s sportswear sections, men’s and women’s footwear walls, pack walls divided by gender and men’s and women’s accessories. As a cis woman, (a person whose gender identity consistently matches the gender they ...read more
Over the past couple years, it’s been encouraging to see brands and organizations elevating their messaging and efforts around diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) in the outdoors. While there’s evidence of change – products that meet the needs of many communities and ...read more
When Elyse Rylander was in grad school, she couldn’t find a single outdoor education program focused on people in the queer community. She had long been a kayaking guide, and saw a clear need for more inclusive trips. So in 2014, she founded Seattle-based OUT There Adventures ...read more
