LGBTQ people find confidence and community in self-defense classes

Self-defense classes geared toward LGBTQ people can be found across the U.S., and instructors and students say the skills these classes provide are giving attendees a boost of confidence and a sense of community in a fraught political environment.

Self-defense classes geared toward LGBTQ people can be found sprinkled across the United States, and instructors and students say the skills these classes provide are giving attendees a boost of confidence and a sense of community in a fraught political environment.

“Pretend someone’s coming for you. How would you kick them if you were fighting for your life?” an instructor at Queer Fight Club in St. Louis asked attendees during a recent self-defense class.

Tori Lohmann, who is nonbinary, was among the nine students in the class. Lohmann said they never imagined joining a self-defense group but found themselves drawn to Queer Fight Club six months ago because of a lack of self-confidence stemming from the current political climate.

“I just felt so angry all the time about the state of the world,” Lohmann, 26, told NBC News.

Tori Lohmann, 26, has been taking self-defense classes at Queer Fight Club in St. Louis since January.Courtesy Anna EscotoLohmann’s concerns come at a time when heated rhetoric, federal policies and state legislation targeting the LGBTQ community — and particularly transgender and gender-nonconforming people — are on the rise. The American Civil Liberties Union has tracked 569 anti-LGBTQ state bills in 2025 so far, and since coming into office in January, President Donald Trump has signed several executive orders aimed at the trans and nonbinary community, including one that proclaims the U.S. government will recognize only two unchangeable sexes, male and female.

https://www.nbcnews.com/nbc-out/out-news/lgbtq-community-self-defense-classes-rcna201915


Post ID: f188f7d1-cace-44cf-8cc8-d0d1d27c6bc9
Rating: 5
Updated: 3 weeks ago
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