WHO ARE WE?
We are a queer-affirming, body-liberating, "fitness" organisation formed in November of 2021. We are one of the first and only organisations in Aotearoa to offer gender-affirming, joyful exercise experiences tailored to our LGBTQ+ whānau.
We offer weekly group fitness classes (in-person and online), personal training, facilitate community groups and run events.
We have 11 beautiful instructors, all of whom are queer. Different instructors have different lived experiences of disability and/or neurodivergence, having a diverse gender identity and/or gender expression, having a diverse sexuality, and many others that have shaped the wonderful, selfless humans that they are today.
We currently run our services at various locations throughout Tāmaki Makaurau. With continued engagement and support, it is our goal to have our own rainbow hub in Tāmnaki Makaura and expand our services throughout Aotearoa.
WHAT DO WE STAND FOR?
Exercise should be enjoyable and accessible for everyone.
At Radiqal Movement, we encourage positive, holistic approaches to movement, centered around joy, consent, body-liberation, and peer support.
We ensure the use of body-positive language, teaching of non-gendered fitness, and provide services that cater to all fitness levels, experience, and confidence. Our staff take pride in ensuring our members are respected and celebrated.
Radiqal Movement is one of the first and only fitness platforms in Aotearoa to provide a dedicated space for rainbow communities. However, Radiqal Movement also welcome allies who shares our values of inclusivity, respect, and body-liberation.
Providing our services is a crucial step towards improving the mental and physical health of some of New Zealand's most vulnerable communities.
HOW ARE WE DIFFERENT?
Mainstream gyms are not often a welcoming, comfortable, or safe space for many people. The toxic, hyper-masculinized, gendered environment, and general disrespect within mainstream gyms contribute to this. Gyms are a wide-reaching public resource which should, by definition, improve the health of their members, rather than create more barriers to mental and physical wellness.
Instead, Radiqal Movement aims to reduce inequities and improve the health of some of New Zealand's most vulnerable individuals.
Community, connection, and intergeneration support are the foundation of our gym. We value post-workout coffees, social events, and prioritise our members' holistic wellbeing. We use exercise and movement to provide our clients with autonomy over their body expression, particularly to combat body dysphoria and increase positive mental health.
LAUREN HARTRIDGE
Founder, Director,
Exercise Specialist.
Kia ora e te whānau,
I am the founder and director of Radiqal Movement. Radiqal was built to provide joyful exercise opportunities for LGBTQ+ folk and other communities underrepresented and often omitted from mainstream fitness spaces.
I believe that to better serve our communities and reduce intersectional inequities, the narrative(s) surrounding exercise needs to change. A whole new landscape of movement, one that takes holistic, body-liberating, community peer support approaches to hauora, is the way forward.
I am an Inspiring Stories Impact Awards Finalist (2023), Health Sciences and Exercise Sciences graduate, two-time National Futsal Champion, former International Waka Ama competitor, and have 12+ years of gym training experience.
Trans, gender diverse, and queer folk deserve to have positive, healthy and happy relationships with movement and their communities.
~ Lauren Hartridge (she/they) ~