The Shock of the Leotard

It’s incredible how triggering a leotard can be for transphobes and queerphobes. And for the folks who are allies but still cannot reconcile the diversity of gender experiences we are lucky to have on this planet, the leotard also triggers them, challenging their notions of what is appropriate for genders to wear.

I wear a leotard because I like how it looks on my body. It’s a non-binary, queer body. It’s a middle-aged body. It’s a good body.

I also like how leotards look on other people. On women, on men, on people. I especially love to see how it looks on athletic and muscular bodies.

But people still continue to point, laugh and snicker when male bodies and male-presenting folks slip into a leotard.

I wear leotards under my tights and leggings at the gym because I don’t like my top or t-shirt coming untucked. I like the compression. I like the way it can bring out my shape by being fitted. Nothing wrong with that. Outside of fitness spaces, I also pair leotards with jeans and shorts, as well as skirts, precisely because they define the body and do not bunch up or need to be tucked. They stay the fuck in place.

But we all know that the average cis/het person starts to point and laugh right away if they see a body like mine wearing a leotard.

I send them a lovely fuck you.

Perhaps you have wanted to try on a leotard all your life, or perhaps they turn you on when male bodies and male presentation enjoy them. Or maybe leotards help you explore your own gender experience, affirming who you are.

I say celebrate and express what you need to express.

If you feel like certain articles of clothing are not accessible to you and your gender experience, sit with that frustration. Get curious about why you feel it, and why there are parts of you that are afraid to express themselves.

When I step outside of the house in my leotard and leggings, people may say, “there goes a cross-dresser” or “look at that old faggot in a mustache and a leotard, who do they think they are?”

Let them. I know who I am, and I know why I do what I do. If you see me out an in public and this resonates with you, and you feel the way I do, say, “Keep it Queer.”