College student Veronica Ashcroft is reaching as many mountain peaks as she can this summer among the 67 in New England and 48 in New York that make up the “Northeast 115.” And she’s doing it all to increase transgender visibility.
“By taking a trans pride flag up that many mountains in that short of a time, I hope to accomplish two things: to increase trans visibility in the outdoors and to (hopefully) inspire some people in the process,” she says on her masterpost, where you can learn more about Ashcroft and her mission.
Reports Queerty.com:
Sometimes the opposition against trans people can seem insurmountable. From anti-trans legislature to social pressures to medical roadblocks, trans people face endless uphill battles.
Enter Veronica Ashcroft, the sapphic trans hiker proving that nothing is too tall to conquer.
Ashcroft started her hiking journey after starting college in the Northeast U.S. and took to it with aplomb, getting accustomed to walking a good 25 miles in a day, no sweat. Well, maybe a little sweat.
She posted to a couple queer reddit forums in early May about scaling Franconia Ridge in New Hampshire brandishing a trans flag, just something fun and symbolic of overcoming hardship. …
“Here we are, 49 peaks later and still going strong, and I can honestly say that this is one of the most rewarding things I’ve done in a long time,” Ashcroft tells In The Know.
“I don’t know how many people may be impacted by my project here, but even if just a few people are motivated to do cool things as a result, it will have been worth it.
She wrote in a recent post about the fear she sometimes feels at unfurling her flag around others at a summit, but also acknowledged that bravery in the face of others’ hostility is “one of the core reasons we have pride to begin with.”
“I believe positive visibility for queer people is one of the most important aspects of pride,” she explains. “My experiences over the last year of transitioning have shown me just how needed pride is.”
If the climber has scaled this many heights with this much joy in a month, we can’t wait to watch her journey through the rest of the list and into the future.
Read the complete Queerty article here. Visit Veronica’s webpage here.
Not a subscriber? Sign up today for a free subscription to Boston Spirit magazine, New England’s premier LGBT magazine. We will send you a copy of Boston Spirit 6 times per year and we never sell/rent our subscriber information. Click HERE to sign up!
