NEW YORK (1010 WINS/WCBS 880) — Finding a gym where you feel comfortable breaking a sweat can be a challenge, especially when it involves learning or honing a specific skill. But a queer gym in Brooklyn is looking to introduce LGBTQ+ New Yorkers to the world of boxing in an inclusive and welcoming space.
Situated on Meeker Avenue near North 7th Street in Williamsburg, trans-owned OutBox LGBTQ+ Boxing & Fitness has its large sliding door wide open for people of all identities to come, work out and perhaps learn a cross-jab punching combo.
“We’ve found that a lot of queer, LGBTQ spaces, a lot of it had to do with partying, right?” Colline Laninga, manager of OutBox, told 1010 WINS/WCBS 880. “There’s a lot of just partying or it’s community centers. But there’s no just regular place for people to go and just have a regular-life activity.”
Laninga, who regularly instructs at the gym, began teaching boxing classes for queer and transgender people in Brooklyn parks with OutBox owner Max Adler, a USA amateur boxer and coach, following his transition during the COVID-19 pandemic.
“He was always working with them, but as a trans athlete, it was just so apparent the need for a space like this,” Laninga said.
Adler started up a brand new Instagram account with zero followers to promote the park clases, and still, they quickly sold out. Building on the concept’s success, he decided to go all-in when he found the OutBox space in Williamsburg.
The gym teaches a variety of classes including LGBTQ+ All Levels Boxing, Intermediate Boxing and Sparring; All Levels Boxing and H.I.I.T; FLEX Lower Body and Upper Body Strength; plus the gym’s weekly free LGBTQ+ Strength class.
During instruction at their LGBTQ+ All Levels Boxing class, Laninga explained that learning how to box is like learning a new language. Basic lessons on keeping a strong stance, protecting one’s face and nailing a jab, cross, hook or uppercut were given to beginners with cardio and strength built-in to the hour-long session.
After the class' warmup but before the attendees were brought together to practice on bags, intermediate students were taken into the ring to work on combination shots.
But this experience-based separation is the only division to be found at OutBox.
“The space is completely gender neutral. It’s gender neutral bathrooms, we don’t use gendered language, we don’t separate it by anything. Everyone just comes together,” Laninga said.
New Yorkers already face barriers getting into the gym. Self-consciousness and intimidation are only some of the reasons people don’t reach their activity goals, and these feelings can be heightened when identity comes into play.
“Access to healthcare is so limited, and you’re dealing with so many things going in, whether it’s your pronouns, or just how people are addressing you, or what’s going on with your body,” Laninga said. “And so it’s so important to have access to things that promote health and moving. And it’s not just health and moving, but it’s community, right?”
The gym and its staff have built relationships with regulars who come in and mingle. Friendships have formed among queer community members and allies sharing similar interests, and the space tries to nurture these connections. Events to engage gym-goers, like next week's "Pride Kick Boxing" and "Sparring Jam Pride Party," help in that mission.
“It feels more of a communal experience rather than ‘oh I paid to be here,’ which is really nice and is supported by the people who actually work here who make you feel like you’re actually a part of a community,” Tahir Karmali, who has been going to OutBox since February, told 1010 WINS/WCBS 880.
When asked if there was anything they wanted people to know about OutBox, Laninga drove home everything that the gym stands for.
“I want people to just show up. We will take care of everything. You don’t have to worry, we’ll tell you what to do, and it’s not about being good, it’s about moving and having fun.”
For more information about OutBox, visit its website here.