When Leo Baker started skateboarding professionally in the early 2000s, skateboarding was primarily a hobby for punks. There were no Olympic trials for national teams, and advertisers were only beginning to notice the gains that could come from marketing sneakers and T-shirts to kids doing kickflips.
Leo was a child prodigy, but as a childhood skateboarder he wasn’t so transgender and non-binary. He was mistakenly seen as someone who could become the signboard for young women in skateboarding.
Directed by Nicola Marsh and Giovanni Reda, the documentary “Stay on Board: The Leo Baker Story” uses a combination of archive, observation, and interview footage to show how Leo navigated a career as a decorated professional skateboarder while the stress of gender dysphoria and public misconception.
When the documentary begins, it will be the year leading up to the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. Leo has qualified for the United States women’s first team and he disagrees with that decision. The public misconception of his gender is causing him great pain, but he fears his career will end if he comes out. Backed by family and friends—many of whom are also queer veterans of the skateboarding scene—Leo eventually chooses to live openly as a transgender and retires from the Olympic team.
The directors have made a compact film, but their footage is impressive. Leo is a dynamic and generous subject, and he gives the filmmakers access through an intimate struggle as he is wrong-sexed in public and privately seeks support from loved ones.
This is a candid look at one’s experience of coming out, a humane document that demonstrates the courage and resilience of queer people seeking relief from the categories imposed upon them.
Stay on board: the story of Leo Baker
Not judged. Running time: 1 hour 12 minutes. Watch on Netflix.