Is Arise Inclusive of LGBTQ2+ Students?
Short answer: yes.
Longer answer, because this question deserves more than a one-word reply: Arise Self-Defense is committed to creating a safe, welcoming space for people of all gender identities and sexual orientations, and that commitment shapes how our classes are actually run, not just how they're described.
What this looks like across our programs
Weekly classes are open to women, femme, and gender non-conforming adults and teens (13+). We use language deliberately: "women's classes" doesn't mean cisgender women only. Femme-experiencing and female-identifying participants of all backgrounds are welcome.
Be Your Own Hero, our preteen program, is open to girls, non-binary, and female-identifying youth ages 9–13. We know that preteens are often still figuring out language for their own identity, and we want that process to feel safe here, not something that has to be settled before someone can walk in the door.
Workshops and community programs are open to all genders, since the core skills, awareness, boundary-setting, de-escalation, communication, aren't specific to any one identity.
A note on what "inclusive" means here
It's worth being upfront about something: our weekly classes and Be Your Own Hero are female-centred spaces. That's intentional, not incidental. The conversations, scenarios, and framing we use are grounded in the lived realities that women and femme people navigate day to day, so if you're joining as an LGBTQ2+ participant, that's the lens the class is built around, and it's worth knowing that going in.
That's also exactly why LGBTQ2+ inclusion matters so much to us. Trans women, non-binary people, and gender-diverse folks face disproportionate rates of harassment and violence, often for the same underlying reasons cisgender women do, and sometimes compounded further. We don't think anyone should be left without the tools to feel safe and confident in their body just because their identity doesn't fit a narrower definition of "woman." Being femme-experiencing or female-identifying is what matters here, not how you arrived at that identity or how long you've held it.
Why this matters, beyond just saying it
A lot of spaces say "all are welcome" without doing the harder work of actually building that. For us, that means:
Instructors trained in inclusive, trauma-informed facilitation, not just physical technique.
Language that doesn't assume everyone in the room shares the same identity or experience.
An understanding that safety and belonging are connected. You can't build real confidence in a space where you're bracing to be judged or misunderstood.
We're not going to pretend this work is ever fully finished. Inclusion isn't a box you check once, it's an ongoing practice, and we're always working to make sure our spaces are as affirming and respectful as we intend them to be. If you ever experience otherwise in one of our classes, we want to hear about it.
If you've been on the fence about reaching out
If part of what's held you back from trying a class is not knowing whether you'd actually be welcome, we hope this answers it clearly: you would be. Come as you are.
Ready to check it out? Find a weekly class, explore Be Your Own Hero, or reach out with any questions before you commit to anything.
Arise Self-Defense offers empowerment self-defense programs for women and teens, kids, schools, and workplaces across Metro Vancouver. Our work begins long before any physical technique — with voice, boundaries, and the knowledge that safety starts with you.
