'Limitless': Creating safe spaces for queer runners in the Philippines
SINGAPORE — Members of the LGBTQ+ community are no strangers to challenges and tribulations in their every day life — from the stigma associated with being gay to having to worry about their safety from hate crimes.
Especially in a conservative country like the Philippines, creating an equal space for queer members of society remains in the distant future as of now.
But adidas Runners Manila coach Nikki Torres is doing her small part in giving LGBTQ+ Filipinos room to be who they are, particularly in her role as a runner.
Torres, along with adidas Runners Manila, came up with "Limitless" — a sub group of the adidas Runners community in the country created specifically for queer runners.
Knowing that there are little to no communities for LGBTQ+ athletes in the country, Torres took the matter in her own hands.
"There was just this need to represent athletes who are from the queer community. And [it's] just a lack of safe spaces for us in generaly, not just in running, but also in sports," Torres told Philstar.com during the re-launch of the Ultraboost 22 in Taguig last Friday.
"And being queer, I found that there's not enough, like I don't see people who are like me. I see women, but I don't see people I grew up with," she added, speaking of queer women.
It was in 2020 that Torres was able to get the adidas Runners Global's Diversity Advisory Council's attention with her call for a better environment for queer runners in the country.
Among 10 projects proposed from 13 countries to the Diversity Advisory Council, Torres' Limitless was among the ones chosen by adidas itself to fund and support.
Limitless follows an 11-week program where queer runners can work on their health and wellness without the fear of being judged.
"Limitless came from breaking out from all those stigmas that society asks of us, especially when it comes to the general 'gay, queer'," said Torres.
"So it's more of just opening it up. Whatever, it doesn't matter naman talaga eh. We're all just humans here," she added.
Some of the little things that Limitless does with its runners is giving them the freedom of choice when it comes to their athletic clothing and gender expression, and also doing away with requiring the details of their assigned sex at birth in their sign up forms.
"It's really up to you, what it is that fits your style. What it is that fits your pereference [and] how you express yourself," she said.
Triathlete Kriska Sto. Domingo is one of many runners in the Limitless community.
And she shared how having her fellow members of the LGBTQ+ community arround her helped in making things better for her as an athlete.
"Sa akin, it's nice to have a group na ganun kasi it's your safe space. Dito kasi sa Philippines, hindi pa masyadong recognized [ang pagiging queer]," she said.
Sto. Domingo also pointed at the help of her fellow runners and athletes in understanding her struggles, in and out of her role as a triathlete.
"Kahit na may mga comments, mga experience na ganun, okay lang. Kasi meron kang solid group na tanggap ka, na pwede mong iyakan, na maiintindihan nila yung rant mo," she said. — Luisa Morales
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