Fat people can skate by Tegan Christmas
“Can fat people skate?” was the first thing I googled. I had visions of gear not fitting, buying skates
with puny weight limits, tales of horrific injuries with a resigned sigh by the storytellers of “Well, if
only she wasn’t so fat…”
Lots of these doom-laden prophecies were true: Indeed, it was difficult to find safety pads that fitted
my fat pal and I, but with some deft craftiness, we adjusted the Velcro on the kneepads to fit our
legs. We bought the skates anyway, to hell with the weight limits, we thought. Just safety
precautions, we figured. We’d make it work, like we had always had to: With ingenuity, with risks,
making the world fit us, because we couldn’t fit in the world in the rigid ways we’re expected to.
The idea of “sport” will have you believe that fat people aren’t welcome or wanted, but that’s
entirely untrue. If you can stand, you can skate. It might take six months, perhaps longer, but with a
little persistence, if you can stand, you can skate. It’ll be hard, (as you’d expect) but perhaps with the
added unpicking of the trauma we collect as fat people along the way. You’re just not athletic.
Physical activity isn’t your forte. You look stupid, don’t bother. These are no doubt familiar refrains
to most us, that we have to unpeel, discard, but which seem to have a horrible habit of getting stuck
to us, again and again.
The truth is, on skates, we can soar. Roller skating, at dusk in the summer, surrounded by like
minded friends, with pop music playing and a can of cold fizz in your hand, is truly the closest we are
ever likely to get to flying in dreams. Sometimes, when we’re together,it all just falls into place, and
we look at each other in wonder at how by simply strapping wheels onto our feet and gathering, we
can create such feelings of wonder, euphoria, bliss. Roller skating is more than the sum of its parts,
and yet none of us can work out why. Rather than a gruelling, punishing sport where we aim to beat
each other, roller skating offers a sense of joy in movement, of friendship and camaraderie. Roller
skating has been the most transformative and powerful thing that has happened to me, and if you’re
curious too, find your closest skate gang and go see what all the fuss is about. If you can’t find one,
make one. Start your own: There will no doubt be other people also curious but nervous. Start your
skate journey together, make adventures happen.
Fat people can indeed skate.
Words by Tegan Christmas | IG @wegotthislondon
Tegan lives in London and is the founder of WeGotThis, a queer friendly, fat positive roller skating collective for people who wouldn’t ever consider doing anything sporty. When she’s not skating, she enjoys cuddling dogs and playing guitar, and works as a domestic violence adviser to pay the bills.
Illustration by Tessy Savary | IG @tessy_savary
