Women’s outdoor groups provide safe and nurturing spaces for many women to make connections and push their limits.

As awareness about trans and non-binary issues rises, some women are starting to question how to make their groups more welcoming to trans people. These women realize how lucky they are to have safe spaces and they want to extend the benefit of their communities to their trans, non-binary and Two-Spirit siblings.

This blog post is starting point for that journey. Making women’s groups more trans-inclusive can be complicated. There is no single correct way to do things. To shed light on some of these different perspectives, I talked to 42 trans, non-binary and Two-Spirit people to hear their perspectives.

Let’s start with the basics

Transgender people do not identify with the gender they were assigned at birth.

There are a lot of ways to be transgender. Some people transition from one binary gender identity to another. Some people are non-binary, which means their gender doesn’t fit into the categories of man or woman. Two-Spirit is a term used by Indigenous people to describe a range of gender identities and sexual orientations.

There are a lot more words that trans people use and language changes over time. You don’t need to memorize everything. You can always look up words to learn more. The most important thing is to use the language people ask you to use when referring to them.

You cannot tell if someone is transgender or non-binary by looking at them. Some people will tell you that they are trans and some will not. You’ve probably met many trans people, even if you did not know it at the time.

Most people are cisgender. This means people thought you were a boy or a girl when you were born, and it turns out this was right! The short version of cisgender is “cis,” which is Latin for same. (This is pronounced like “siss.”)

Recently the word “biological” has started to be used by those who oppose trans rights, as in biological female or biological male. The theory is that there are two distinct biological sexes and it is very easy to tell who is who. This is overly simplistic. Not all people assigned female at birth, who consider themselves cis women, count as “biological women” depending whatever is being measured. Check out the CBC podcast Tested to learn more.

Trans women

The best place to start is making sure your women’s group is a welcoming place for trans women.

You might think you don’t have much to do here, since trans women are women! Simple as that. But to be truly welcoming, you need to do more.

Sarah is queer trans woman who loves mountain biking and backcountry skiing. She says, “I am wary of women specific groups or trips unless they are explicitly trans and nb [non-binary] friendly, I have felt before awkward in these spaces, like people would prefer I wasn’t there and that I am only included because it would be offensive not to allow me to partake.

As I write this, some places in the United States are very busy making laws to ban trans girls from school sports. The International Olympic Committee has just banned trans women and is requiring harmful testing for all female athletes. Just a few years ago, a very prominent women’s organization decided it would rather stop running rather than include trans women.

Even if you do not agree with these things, trans women have no way of knowing that about you.

I recommend using simple, descriptive language that widely used in your community. Something as simple as: “Our group welcomes all women, including cis and trans women.”

What are you going to do to actually make your group inclusive for trans women?

My previous blog post on how to make your outdoor group more trans inclusive has some tips to get you started.

The payoff is huge for the women who are able to participate in your group.

Brie is a white woman climber. She writes, “Outdoorsy women are my peeps. I feel most safe and most free in women’s spaces. I’ve made so many deep and meaningful connections and I also have a voice to advocate for more trans inclusion. After being stuck in men’s spaces and excluded from women’s spaces my whole life it’s also very liberating and affirming.”

Erin (pictured below) is gender diverse climber, mountaineer and skier. They like participating in women’s and queer groups because it “offers validation to my identity.” She feels safer when organizations state that they “welcome gender diverse members, specifically if it’s a gender specific trip. Inclusion is melding policy to accommodate the human not asking the human to meld into the policy.”

Non-binary people

Non-binary people generally do not identify as a man or a woman. This identity is generally considered under the trans umbrella. However, not all non-binary people would agree with what I just said. There is a lot of diversity in this one identity!

Some people think all non-binary people are people who were assigned female at birth and dress a bit androgynously. If you take one thing away from this article, it would be to stop thinking this. Non-binary people are not all “tomboys.”

There is no one way to look non-binary.

Some of us have beards. Some wear makeup. (Some do both at the same time!) We are old, young, fat, skinny, tall, short, brown, black, white. Some of us have deep voices and some high.

Some of us were assigned female at birth and others male. Others are intersex.

Some of us choose to take hormones or have gender affirming surgery. Some do not. And there is no guarantee that our appearance will stay the same over time.

Welcoming regardless of appearance

If you want to include non-binary people, you need to do the work in your organization ahead of time so that a masculine-presenting person or androgynous-presenting person is received with the same warm, comfort and ease as a feminine person.

Dizzy is a trans, non-binary genderqueer person. They love foraging, swimming in lakes and going to beaches. They write, “I am non binary and sometimes present femme and sometime present masculine. I have had some adverse reactions in women’s groups depending on how I present.”

To be inclusive of non-binary people, you will need to stop using gendered language to describe the entire group. For example, you cannot get everyone’s attention at a meetup by saying “Hey ladies!” And unless you actually know the gender identity of everyone in a photo, you cannot call tag pictures of them on Instagram with “#outdoorwomen. You will also need to normalize sharing and using pronouns, including “they/them.”

This goes way beyond the text on your website or Instagram account. Does everyone in your group know what non-binary means? Are they on board with welcoming ALL non-binary people, not just those assigned female at birth? Have you done some basic things to make your group welcoming for trans people?

You cannot tell by looking at someone if they are non-binary

Treating non-binary people as if they are similar to women can unintentionally hurt people you hoped to include.

Flo is a white non-binary queer person who loves bike packing, car camping. Flo writes, “I don’t look androgynous, have not medically transitioned and could pass as a cis woman. Sometimes I feel like AFAB [assigned female at birth] non-binary people are assumed to be ‘women-lite’ and that makes me uncomfortable. Participating in women groups can reinforce my dysphoria.” Gender dysphoria is the unease you feel about the mismatch between the gender you were assigned and the gender you are.

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Trans men

Most trans men who responded to my survey said they had no interest in a women’s group because they are not women! And they fully supported it existing for those who wanted that space.

Miles is “transmasc queer mixed settler.” He loves fishing, quadding and foraging. He writes, “I was in the girl guide organization for 10 years and it was really important to have that space, even though I identify as male/transmasc now I still think it was an extremely valuable experience to have a specific female identified group when I identified as female.”

So really, that’s it. Trans men are not women. They don’t want to be in your women’s group.

That is… unless you perhaps don’t actually want to have a women’s group.

Considering including trans men

Most trans men were assigned female at birth. They may have grown up as girls, with all its challenges and joys. They also might have faced the similar gender-based discrimination and harassment as woman have. Their close relationships may have been with women for most of their lives. As a result, many trans men enjoy being in majority female spaces.

Jordan is queer and loves camping, hiking and kayaking. He says, “I’m a trans man but my friendships and socialization is very much centred around women, I feel more comfortable in female spaces, restrooms and change rooms aside. My spirit is more enby [non-binary], really, but my gender expression is male.”

Jack is a Scottish trans man (pictured below). He is an ex ITF Taekwondo athlete, cyclist and now climber. He echos similar feelings to Jordan. “Many of us wouldn’t be wanting to be in women’s groups as that’s invalidating, but many of us better relate growing up with misogyny nonsense and how that’s affected us in all walks of life as individuals, e.g. our confidence levels, or willingness to speak up etc.”

I’ve been medically transitioning for about a year now. I still identify as non-binary, but I may be perceived as a trans man or even a cis man as I keep taking hormones. However, I don’t really feel ready to leave women’s groups behind! You can read my thoughts on this topic on another post: Should a trans masc (me) play women’s sports?

There can be room for trans men in a group that was mostly women. You just don’t call it a women’s group anymore! Here is how a two groups local to me have worded their statements who have trans people in their leadership:

• Mountain Mentors: “serves marginalized genders including women, non-binary, gender non-conforming, trans masculine and trans feminine folks.” (I have recently been elected President of this former women’s organization.)
• Rock & Rise is a space for women and people of expansive genders, including non-binary, gender non-conforming, and transgender folks of all identities.

This Bad Academy is run by a cis woman but has a nod to trans inclusion. in some of their clubs/events. I find it the least trans inclusive language of the three, but I do see all sorts of non-cis-male genders at their events which is what really matters:

• Bad Climbers: “Women/gender-non-conforming”

There is no pressure to widen your group. Groups for just women (that include trans women) are valid.

And unless you have a lot of trans folks involved in your group, you may or may not be in a place to respectfully swing this. This is why spaces just for trans and non-binary people can be so important and validating. But that goes beyond the scope of this post.

Common phrases to AVOID

Below is a list of things peopel say when the probably just mean women, in a trans inclusive way. But making things quite complicated, it can inadvertently be confusing, offensive, or like you don’t know what you are talking about.

If you want to make sure people know you are being trans inclusive, you can say something like “women (including cis and trans women).”

And this is coming from my own perspective, which is not universal. When in doubt, build relationships with trans and non-binary people in your community and ask them how they want to be referred to.

Female

Many people use female interchangeably with woman, but they technically mean different things.The words female and male are used to describe your sex (genitals, hormones, chromosomes). Using female instead of women is very upsetting to some people as they feel it is coded as trans exclusionary as you are focusing on body parts.

Women-identifying

Like ten years ago, this used to be considered a nod to trans-inclusiveness. Now at least where I live, it is now often considered offensive, as trans women are women. Trans women don’t identify as women. They are women. I would avoid this unless trans women in your community tell you this is the language they prefer.

Women* or women+

This one always makes me pause and go huh? What does this even mean?

I think people use this are trying to include non-binary people and trans women. But non-binary does not fit under the woman umbrella. And trans women are women, no asterisk or plus sign required. And trans men are not women.

I would avoid this one. Figure out who you mean to include and use the language those communities use for themselves. I have never met anyone who identified as “woman+”

Womxn

Same as women+. Best case it means nothing, worst case it’s offensive.

It also reminds some people of “womyn” which is used by people who do not think trans women are women. So I consider this one of the worst in the list.

Femmes

Femme is a lesbian and/or queer identity. It can be used to describe people of any gender.

Femme and women are absolutely not interchangeable words. Femme should not be used by groups of mostly straight people.

Non-binary women

When I see non-queer groups use this phrase, I wonder if they are trying to signal that they just want to include people assigned female at birth.

However, there is no word for non-binary people who were assigned female at birth. And there is no word for non-binary people who pass as women.

It is true some non-binary people are also women. While this identity is completely valid, it’s a small subset of an already very small identity.

The word is probably best used in queer spaces, where everyone is more likely to agree on what it means.

What’s next?

If this is new to you and feels like a lot, don’t worry. Your best bet is just to start somewhere. Keep reading, learning, listening, asking respectful questions and building relationships with trans and non-binary people.

You are going to mess up. That is unavoidable. Stay curious and keep going.

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