Roller Derby Is Soooo Gender

I've had a complicated relationship with gender and roller derby.

Back in 2011 when I first got involved with roller derby I wanted to play so badly, but dudes weren't allowed to play so, I settled for being a skating official. I had fun and made some friends, sure, but there was always this very clear line between the women who played and the men who officiated. It was so very binary back in those days to the point that I was always afraid that someone would think I was trying to worm my way into a women-only space. And trans women playing derby? Almost unheard of.

Things changed a bit for me a few years later when I rounded up some dudes and we founded what later became the Cleveland Guardians– at the time a men's roller derby team. (It's now pretty co-ed.) At least I had some other guys to skate with. Things happened, my wife and I had kids, and I ended up leaving the team, thus starting my Big Break from the derby world in 2014.

Fast forward to the spring of 2025 where my kids are more grown, my egg has (finally) cracked, and we're on the other side of the country in Portland, Oregon. I was about to find out that something had changed in the derby world.

Last May, my family and I went to an event hosted by the Rose City Rollers to introduce kids to junior roller derby. (We thought our very sensory-seeking kids would love it. They did not.) It was there that I learned two things:

1.) The world famous Rose City Rollers had an adult recreational team
2.) Their mission statement was inclusive as fuck

As I was sitting watching kids play roller derby I spotted the league's mission statement on a banner up on the wall:

"The Rose City Rollers mission is to serve women, girls, and gender-expansive individuals who want to play the team sport of roller derby, connect with an inclusive community, and realize their power both on skates and off."

It turns out that during my Big Break from derby derby became more inclusive. It was already pretty inclusive– it's always been pretty queer– but I had never seen it spelled out like this before. I was one of those "gender-expansive" people they were talking about. Would they really accept me, a feminine person who's built like a dude?

It turns out the answer is not just yes, but absolutely.

Rose City Rollers' policy on gender aligns with the Women's Flat Track Derby Association's (WFTDA) statement about gender. Here's how Rose City Rollers describes their policy on their website:

"In line with our mission to foster an inclusive community, our league welcomes trans and gender-expansive athletes — regardless of their pronouns or gender presentation — who feel most comfortable playing women’s roller derby."

I signed up for the recreational program, the Wreckers, almost immediately when we got home that day. Within a week I was at my first practice where the first thing we did was go around in a circle and share our names and pronouns. It was unlike anything I had ever seen at derby before. Whatever happened in the 10 years I was away, it was for the better. It felt like the sport "grew up" in a lot of ways.

In the little-over-a-year since I've met so many people who are openly trans or non-binary. They're coaches, staff, players, board members... at every level of the league there are people just like me. When I'm at derby now I'm not the odd one out like I am so many other places. I'm just a teammate.

Because the community that surrounds our unusual sport has become so diverse and inclusive I'm able to just be myself. I don't have to perform gender. I don't have to fit into a box of being feminine enough to play.

That's not to say the derby community is without its issues. Any place a large number of people come together they will bring with them their own biases and prejudices. But these days, the derby community seems far more aware of where its problems lie and takes active steps to enact change. Sometimes it's slow going and sometimes it's not enough. But the community is trying.

That's so much more than I saw back in my olden derby days where a recently-out trans woman joined a local WFTDA team and everyone got really weird about it.

When I'm at derby I'm authentically me, and I feel like I'm finally allowed to be.