The Emerging Queer Arm-Wrestling Scene: STRAPS

It's a tight squeeze entering the tiny bar of Houndstooth, but once you get through the energetic crowd (and adjust your eyes to the spotlights) the scene captivates you. A tiny table with two chairs has everyone's attention while the hosts, dressed in wrestling singlets, faux chest hair, and a rainbow strap-on, calls the next two opponents forward...

★ P (Philip): What is STRAPS?

☆ L (Layah): STRAPS is meant to be a fun, weird fundraiser, important that it is free and pay what you can by donation for whatever we're fundraising. Arm-wrestling is what started STRAPS, but I do think it has the potential to branch out into other areas. I wouldn't necessarily say it is a sporting event, which some people think it is, but that does not cater to what either of us know how to do. It's just something weird.

★ P: Why arm wrestling?

☆ L: It kinda started as half-a-joke. Firstly I feel like queer people arm wrestling each other that just naturally happens, but I got into the idea while challenging my friends to arm wrestling more often. I think I just challenged Rhys (the co-founder) to arm wrestle as a joke and they said “oh this actually has legs! this is a good idea, let's do it.”

Rhys is from the UK, where they have 🔗 testohunkie a trans-masc event that is similarly centered around arm wrestling, but also DJ/party-centric events. What I've come across in asheville is more underground trans-specific collectives that exist, there's bits and pieces of that here but not at the point we want. We try to keep trans and bipoc folks at the forefront. There's still a lot of queer events in Toronto that don't actually feel like they're for trans people.

★ P: The latest fundraiser was for DULF, How are your fundraisers done?

☆ L: We change it for each one depending on what seems necessarily important at that moment. What needs the most support. The first one we did was for 🔗 Skipping Stone,a trans support organization in Calgary, AB when word broke out with Daniel Smith restricting trans-affirming care.

And then the next one was right before pride month so we were fundraising for 🔗 NPIPC (No Pride in Policing) which runs an anti-pride Toronto march and rally every year.

In recent times, people across canada have begun donating items to raffle off in support of the event. There was no intent to bring this in, but we’ve had leather-workers, photographers, and others offer their help.

☀