🎙️ Fitness Without Fences: Building Inclusive Spaces for the LGBTQ+ Community with Cara Turnquist

In this powerful Pride Month episode of The Naughty Gym Show, we sit down with advocate and fitness coach Cara Turnquist to tackle one of the fitness industry’s lingering blind spots: true inclusivity for LGBTQ+ individuals.

👉 Why do so many gyms remain unwelcoming—even if they don’t explicitly exclude?

👉 What are the invisible barriers LGBTQ+ folks face just walking into a fitness space?

👉 And why do those of us with privilege have a moral responsibility to fight for change?

Cara shares the origin of her groundbreaking Lift Up program (a safe, empowering gym experience for LGBTQ+ members), personal stories of navigating fatphobia and exclusion, and why representation, small language shifts, and fearless advocacy matter more than ever.

We also unpack:

✅ How gym owners & fitness professionals can make spaces truly inclusive

✅ Why locker rooms and bathrooms are still battlegrounds

✅ How allies can stop sitting quietly on the sidelines

✅ The myth of “neutrality” in today’s climate

✅ Actionable steps for building community and saving lives through fitness

This isn’t just about rainbows on the wall. It’s about creating spaces where everyone feels safe, seen, and free to take up space.

If you’re a gym owner, a coach, a fitness lover—or simply someone who gives a damn about making the world better—this episode is a must-listen. 🎧

We are April and Scott, creators of NaughtyGym.com and this is the Naughty Gym Show.

For years we’ve been fitness and nutrition coaches to thousands of people through our commercial gyms and online platform. We’ve also spent nearly a decade in an ever-evolving, open relationship.

This show brings together our two biggest passions, fitness and sex positivity. Our mission is to maximize the physical, emotional, and sexual health of the sex positive community.

We have demolished our old ways of thinking about relationships and from that rubble built a life full of happiness, adventure, and vitality. And now we want to help you do the same.

So hop on the treadmill, start the show, and let us teach you how to Never Stop Playing.

• No. of episodes: 50
• Latest episode: 2025-06-17
• Health & Fitness Fitness Sexuality

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