Before You Come to Arkansas 😢

We were planning a mountain biking trip this year and a fishing trip to Table Rock Lake.  We have changed our plans and will not come.  We are going to just gather at Rocky Mountain Nation Park and Estes Park.  We do need to communicate the reason to someone though.  We specifically cancelled due to this issue, and are telling others as well.    

Cancel culture is not productive long term. It ultimately hurts a lot of your (and my) peers, many of them may be even doing good things on a daily basis. Running businesses, feeding their family, volunteering, and making their communities better. Yes, even in Arkansas, Georgia, and anywhere else you'd like to throw the baby out with the bathwater. You're entitled to any opinions for sure, but just note that it's very possible that your blanket ban to visit someplace because of one reason will actually have an overall negative impact for most involved. And that is not inclusive. But, to each their own I guess. Two cents given.

Appreciate your viewpoint, frontrangegravel, BUT this has nothing to do with cancel culture or whatever terms the kids are using nowadays, in my opinion.  There are plenty of places to visit and spend money and we simply choose to boycott the ones that are governed by bigots.  I am not trying to cancel anything  but bigotry.  I will not support states that are run by bigots, nor people who vote them in. The tourist $$ is a form of sanctions, and while it hits those around that industry, it sends a clear message as well.  My money will be better spent here at home and in Oregon this time.  Oregon has better Pinot anyway.

I appreciate your viewpoint as well frontrangegravel, however I agree with Flyers point. I can vote at my local, state, and federal level, but I have no say in other states. Typically I am fine with that and believe in states rights. This is a human rights issue though, and as such I feel it crosses all boundaries when it comes to an individuals need to do what one can to affect those rights. I am not taking my money away from communities and the industry, rather I am taking it to places that align with what I feel is right. The individuals that vote, run businesses, feed their families, volunteer, and make their communities better in places that I spend my money because they understand human rights, will benefit.

Long term I do hope it affects places who aren't so open and accepting, that they feel the hurt from losing business, and they push for change, that they vote for change. With it comes better tolerance and acceptance, with the long term effect being a better living for everyone in the communities. 


I am going to try to keep this somewhat short and not be on a soapbox, but I want people to feel okay with opening discussions about transgender and LGBTQ+ topics in their life. I don't necessarily mean on these forums, although I am always open for a good discussion, but just in their everyday lives. At one point I didn't understand what transgender meant. I didn't understand why pronouns were important. I blissfully was ignorant to the topic in general. Hence, I didn't feel comfortable talking about it, I didn't want to feel ignorant, didn't want to say the wrong things, so I avoided the subject. Having gone through seeing a human being firsthand accept themselves, and patiently allow me to learn and accept them, has been the single biggest positive change in my life. Not because my son is transgender, but because of how the journey has opened me to what is possible for human beings. What it truly means to be human, the diversity in us, what we know, and have yet to learn. Not necessarily know and learn about the outside world, but about us as a species. We've looked back into the beginnings of the universe, landed spacecraft on planets, been to the moon, yet we know so little about the human brain, the complexities of us, what we as a species actually are, and are capable of. These topics need and deserve open discussion, so please feel free to talk to people about difficult topics, be open to make mistakes, to feel vulnerable, that's how we grow. This applies to so many topics, not just this one. We have so much heavy, difficult social issues in front of us, but we can work through them. With an open mind.

When my journey first started I had a man tell me, " I am a gay man, I don't understand women, straight or gay, I don't understand transgender, and I don't have to. But I accept them." What I took from that was that "look, I don't fit societies mold, and I don't understand others that everyone assumes I should understand because they don't fit societies mold, but why would I treat them differently than anyone else?" It was one of those situations where it seemed so complex from the outside, but really is so simple. It was an icebreaker that allowed me to be okay with being ignorant and saying the wrong things, so I could learn. It's easy, we just need to take the first step.



With all that in mind, I am in the early stages of planning a ride for Transgender Health and Awareness. I wanted to call it Trans Wisconsin, but then second guess the idea and I know rides have been called similar without any intent of the topic at hand. The idea being to raise money for those who need health care and to bring awareness as a whole to what it means to be transgender. Early stages, and I almost daily doubt whether I know enough, or if I am the person who should be doing this. Then I talk to my son and he lifts me up, has excitement for the idea, reminds me I'm helping others, and can be vulnerable myself to learn as life goes on. I need to talk with LBS's and garner feedback and support, then move from there I think. I've all but given up riding singletrack mtb this year (my main love of cycling) to really discover some cool stuff around WI and incorporate it into a route. Hopefully by 2023 it can happen, but I have an awful lot of respect for event planners now 🙂

The Lorax would say, "who speaks for the girls/women who would then have to compete against boys/men in sports?" 

So are women and girls "all in" on competing in sports against men and boys who identify as female? I'm sort of slow and don't understand things very well.  Someone please explain.

Complex topic so you will be best served by doing some research on gender identities and the medical therapies.  There are a lot of articles and research done on the subject, including the hormone levels after said therapies.  Certainly interesting things I knew little about before a few years ago.

I truly do not understand why people are so against other people because they are built  differently. I wonder if people of the world will ever get to the level of judging others on their individual actions vs. judging them because of their gender, color, culture, sexual preference, etc.

frontrangegravel wrote:Cancel culture is not productive long term. It ultimately hurts a lot of your (and my) peers, many of them may be even doing good things on a daily basis. Running businesses, feeding their family, volunteering, and making their communities better. Yes, even in Arkansas, Georgia, and anywhere else you'd like to throw the baby out with the bathwater. You're entitled to any opinions for sure, but just note that it's very possible that your blanket ban to visit someplace because of one reason will actually have an overall negative impact for most involved. And that is not inclusive. But, to each their own I guess. Two cents given.

I am sensitive to overdone on cancel culture but long before that was pop news I always thought in terms of voting with my wallet for many consumer choices.

This news strikes me because the one thing that really kept me volunteering so much for MTB trails and programs was the everyone welcome. We also have 3 kids where it's really obvious one nor anyone else chose or influenced how they are.

Not my kids here, but as a trail steward I support NICA teams. My own kids have been in different sports in and out side of public schools. Summer before last 3 NICA teams had an event where it was jaw dropping and brought tears to adults who realized the way an autistic and transgender kid were accepted. That's how we have to be and it renewed my desire to volunteer even though I don't have any kids on the teams.

Alex_C wrote:I truly do not understand why people are so against other people because they are built  differently. I wonder if people of the world will ever get to the level of judging others on their individual actions vs. judging them because of their gender, color, culture, sexual preference, etc.

Or just being different. I didn't ask for it but in the 1960s k-12 education was always put with all kids who were somehow different because of religion and being in a successful first generation American family. 

Part of my passion for cycling and outdoor sports has always been both the on your own part and most groups involved being a good and accepting community.

Come to Arizona we got all the Hate you would ever want, pickup trucks with hate obscene flags STILL. Orangehead was just here egging them on. Never went thru this in time past. Yes I am sure this could apply to other states also. I will not hang with these folk at all. ride on!