CHARLIE MARTIN RACES TO CREATE MORE INCLUSIVE MOTORSPORTS

Charlie Martin is a British driver who pursues her career on the track along with dedicated activism off the track for a cause that is vitally important to her, to create a more inclusive environment in motorsport. Her goal is to spread her message and help break down stereotypical barriers in the traditionally cisgender, male-dominated space.

BECOMING AT HOME IN HER BODY

Growing up, Charlie fell in love with speed, which frequently took her to local hill climb racing events. However, racing is notoriously expensive and to continue towards building a career in the sport meant that Charlie needed to gain sponsorships and craft a dedicated fan base. She sunk money and passion into motorsport but at the same time, began to realize that to she was still not being totally true to herself.

In 2020, Charlie underwent the process of gender transition. This resulted in her finally being able to feel more authentic and comfortable in her body. Doing this while building a career in motorsport was especially challenging. In motorsport, women, people of color, and members of the LGBTQ+ community, if not outright banned from racing, have been widely discouraged from taking part in the sport.

Thankfully, she had the love and support of her close family. “I worked at the time with my brothers in the family business,” Charlie said. “It was great to have that kind of stability from them and seeing each other that regularly made it easier to get through the initial peculiarities of transition. It got rid of the weirdness, having that day-to-day, of growing up as brothers. We just had to get on with the job we were doing.” With that, Charlie returned to the racetrack, she felt a little more prepared to handle adversity.

“A lot of people didn’t know who I was, didn’t know what was going on, didn’t even make the connection that it was me,” Charlie said in an older interview. “It was really, really hard.

“But a handful of people came over to me that day, gave me a massive hug and really made me feel welcome. The difference that that one gesture made to me at that time… I realized that even if I’ve got just a handful of people, then I can go from there.”

Racing requires a driver to exert total control and maintain total focus. As Charlie notes, “The more clarity of thought you have, the more focused you can be, the less distracted you are.” It’s so important for everyone in racing to be able to be their most authentic selves, not worrying about anything but the task before them: being as fast as possible.”

After transition, Charlie had to experience some personal growth herself to achieve her clarity. Like many people, she felt pressure to look and act certain ways when out in public.

“I used to worry as I came into transition that I had to conform to a certain level of femininity to be somebody that was coming from a position of being gendered male to wanting to be accepted as a woman,” she said. “I thought there had to be enough of a gap to create that distinction.

“When I was in the early days of transition, I probably wouldn’t do boxing [as fitness training], or I wouldn’t put it on social media because everyone will think I’m too manly. Now I just think, I’m Charlie, I’m a trans woman, and I do what I do. Take it or leave it.

“That, to me, is what it’s all about—not conforming to a gender stereotype. Just being you.”

HOW HAS CHARLIE’S LIFE CHANGED

Since then, Charlie has shown that she was ready to get back into high-level sports car racing like the Ginetta GT5 Challenge, and the Michelin Le Mans Cup. She’s also an ambassador for Racing Pride, an organization that is dedicated to increasing visibility for members of the LGBTQ+ community in motorsport. She travels to companies to speak about equality in the workplace. And perhaps most importantly, she brings her presence to the track which is a crucial part of changing the diversity makeup of motorsport.

Charlie believes that a big part of equality is visibility. It comes down to just having people who work in motorsport—whether they’re drivers, engineers, media people, whatever the role — show that they are members of the LGBTQ+ community. That, in turn, paves the way for other people to follow in their footsteps. That’s why she tries to be open about the way she communicates. She makes opportunities to be visible so followers in the [LGBTQ+] community can physically see her presence as part of motorsports.  Charlie found people were more accepting than she expected. She feared in my mind that, because she initially didn’t see it, that support wasn’t there. But she discovered it is there. You just had to create the connections.

Charlie’s goal is competing in the 24 Hours of Le Mans. It would be a huge personal step for Charlie and would be crucial to further raise the visibility of LGBTQ+ people in the international racing world. 

“ I want to be remembered as somebody who made LGBTQ+ history at Le Mans, first and foremost,” Charlie said when I asked her what she’d like to be her legacy. Then, she paused, and continued. “But also somebody who did something that was quite brave and took the opportunity they had to make things easier for people following in their footsteps. Because that’s ultimately a big part of what drives me to do what I do.

“When I was growing up, there was never anyone like me—not in motorsport, not in any careers, not in anything. I posted a video recently from Dana International. She was the first person, actually, back in 1998 when she won Eurovision Song Contest, that was trans in mainstream culture. She was so confident, stunning, and absolutely out there being amazing in front of everybody and just blowing everyone away and saying, actually, being trans is awesome! Look at her, she’s incredible!

“That was such a big moment for me in my life. I remember cutting her photo out of articles in the newspaper and things. The impact she had on me—I was spellbound. It was really something. But that was probably the only time I had one of those moments when I was young. Growing up in that kind of environment, it’s incredibly limiting being unable to see anyone like you in anything you aspire to do. It sent out a very strong message. That’s why I want to change that in motorsport. I want to be that person to the kid, someone that they can look to, so that they can know what they want to be when they’re ten years old. Not like me, where I waited until I was 30 to start transitioning."

Charlie Martin is sending out a very strong message… to the motorsport world, and to trans people everywhere. Happy Pride Month!