Washington State provides free 'Queer Pole Fit' classes
The public university located in Pullman, Washington is offering free 'Queer Pole Fit' classes.
The Stephenson Fitness Center at Washington State University offers the free lessons each Friday without any necessary registration.
A public university located in Pullman, Washington is offering free “Queer Pole Fit” classes.
The Stephenson Fitness Center at Washington State University (WSU) offers the free lessons each Friday without any necessary registration.
”Queer Pole Fit is a meant to create a community and environment that helps folks feel safe and disrupt stereotypical ideas about pole dancing,” a description of the program reads. “Taught by our queer pole instructors, come as you are, and enjoy this fun and challenging format.”
The classes are also designated for “all who identify as LGBTQ+” and their “allies.”
WSU recreation officials tell The Daily Evergreen that the program was designed to be more inclusive to those who identify as “queer,” since pole classes are typically promoted for “ladies.”
“This is labeled queer. You’re allowed to present however you are, and you will be seen exactly in that way,” WSU Recreation Fitness Coordinator Laura Yasinitsky told the outlet.
Yasinitsky has also stated that the program was officially launched in January 2024, and serves not only as a “safe space” for “queer” people, also to help normalize pole dancing.
”We want to break those [boundaries] and create a safe space for people so they can participate and try something new,” she said, according to The Daily Evergreen.
While Yasinitsky has indicated she hopes there will be more “queer”-based fitness events, this class is just one of many LGBT-themed programming at WSU.
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The university’s LGBTQ+ Student Center is currently celebrating its 30-year anniversary, and will feature an anniversary reception and drag show celebration to commemorate the occasion next month.
”While we foreground the needs of LGBTQ+ students, staff, faculty, and alumnx we serve the entire Washington State University system through training, consultation, advocacy, and coalition building to advance access and equity throughout the institution,” the center’s website reads.