The Brooklyn Community Pride Center hosts a trans and gender non-conforming swim night at the pool in the Major R. Owens Health & Wellness Community Center, the Gothamist reported.
About three dozen people were crowded into the shallow end of the indoor pool, blasting music and playing with pool toys, while others swam laps a few lanes over.
The monthly event sprang from a simple idea the community proposed in 2022: a safe space where trans and nonbinary folks, who aren't always readily accepted at public pools and beaches, can enjoy swimming, the Director of Development and Communications Omari Scott told the news agency.
Since starting in August 2022, the monthly gathering has since grown into a monthly event that regularly draws around 40 people.
“Swimming is an intimate thing. It can be a hard subject for queer people who are maybe changing the way their body looks,” Sam Grasland, a data scientist, told the Gothamist. “This is a nice place for people who are gender divergent to get to enjoy one of life’s beauties in a safe area where they know they won’t be called out for the way they look.”
