At the beginning of Henny Garfunkel’s third summer chronicling the tribes of the Bay Area for Style, she had a request. Inspired by the documentary “Man Made,” which told the story of a trans body-building competition, she wanted to photograph members of the trans community in a workout environment. That brought us to Oakland’s Queer Gym, run by owner Nathalie Huerta, a.k.a. Coach Nat. The 8-year-old gym was founded by Huerta when she realized the LGBT community had particular needs that weren’t addressed at other gyms.

“There were queer-owned and queer-marketed gyms, but they weren’t necessarily about the community,” Huerta says. “Oakland has been the perfect storm for us to create this with its diversity and forward thinking.”

A few months into establishing the Queer Gym’s first space, Huerta realized that the gym’s trans clients were cycling out after about six months. After talking to members, she realized that in the LGBT alphabet, “I really didn’t know a lot about the T.”

Huerta cites misgendering and pronoun preference as what she wanted to correct in how she ran Queer Gym. Helpful posters and worksheets around the gym provide reminders about gendered language choices (“you guys” is potentially hurtful when addressing a group, “everybody” avoids gender and is the preference) or checking in on gender identity.

Another part of Queer Gym’s journey with the trans community is how Huerta has taken to heart the workout needs of clients transitioning: Once basic fitness is established, she focuses on helping work out the parts of the body that will help clients’ bodies better fit their gender identity.

“This entire experience has been a growth opportunity,” Huerta says, for both herself and her clients. And she doesn’t just mean muscle growth.

The Chronicle talked to Huerta and her clients about their gender identities, preferred pronouns, and their workout experiences.

Tony Bravo is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: tbravo@sfchronicle.com

More Information Queer Gym: 1243 E. 12th Street, Oakland. https://thequeergym.com.