By AIDS/LifeCycle–
Centering diversity and inclusion is at the heart of a new AIDS/LifeCycle team welcoming “all folks who are odd, strange, weird, eccentric, and/or unconventional” and are “of all genders, orientations, and sexualities, including allies.”
The Qweirdos will be debuting on the Ride this year with a team of nearly 80 people spanning the San Francisco Bay Area, Los Angeles, Seattle, New York, and Washington, D.C. What started as an idea between friends Nathan Garcia and Michele Aguilar for an inclusive team has grown to a family of Riders and Roadies creating community from the shared experience of feeling left out of the mainstream LGBTQ community.
“We really wanted to create a team that is inclusive and provides a safe space for folks who just didn’t identify as gay men,” shared Co-Founder Garcia. “The name ‘Qweirdos’ references the feeling of being an ‘outsider,’ ‘weird,’ and the letter ‘Q’ of LGBTQ.”
Initially, The Qweirdos started among friends, but membership soon grew rapidly as word spread of the team and their message. Riders found themselves attracted to the team for the safe space it provided and their values championing “self-care, community, love, and expression.”
“Cycling is a very white male sport and HIV advocacy in San Francisco has been associated with white gay men,” said Auilar, who is entering her fifth year participating and third year as a Roadie. “It’s important for us on the Ride to show that HIV disproportionately impacts other groups such as women and people of color—and have a team representative of that. We want people to know that HIV crosses demographics and there are diverse perspectives living through it.”
Now as the team gears up, they are reflecting on the importance of diversity and inclusion.
“It’s important to have diversity in your life,” Garcia said. “I feel like I am a better person for having a large, diverse friend group that allows me to approach charity work from a compassionate perspective that doesn’t ‘other’ the people we are helping, especially on the Ride.”
He added, “This Ride is bigger than just ending AIDS; it raises funds for many community services provided by the San Francisco AIDS Foundation and the Los Angeles LGBT Center. https://www.aidslifecycle.org/
AIDS/LifeCycle is co-produced by the San Francisco AIDS Foundation and the Los Angeles LGBT Center.
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Published on January 25, 2024
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