Baker was born in Covina, California to Donna Baker and guitarist Marshall Rohner.[6] He spent a year of his early childhood in foster care, and became interested in skateboarding after seeing his foster brothers skating in their backyard.[7][6] Baker got his first skateboard shortly after this, aged two.[7][8] Baker lists his proudest moment as the first time he landed a kickflip.[9]
Career
Aged eleven, Baker picked up his first sponsorship—from Utility Board Shop in La Verne—off the back of a video part filmed over two days by a skateboard instructor who recognised his talent.[10] In following years, Baker gained further sponsorships, and found success at contests around the world.[10]
Aged around nineteen, however, he quit his board sponsor, Element, while Billabong, another long-time sponsor, cut their skate team.[10] With the industry contracting following the global financial crisis, and facing pressure from sponsors regarding gender expression, Baker sensed that his career in skateboarding might be limited going forward and pursued a degree in graphic design.[7][11]
While working a design job after graduating college, Baker filmed and released his first full part, entitled "Bombshell", through Thrasher Magazine in 2013.[12] He also continued to compete, winning three medals at X Games events in 2013 and 2014. Yet Baker still struggled to find sponsors, and so decided to join his friend Lisa Whitaker's new company Meow Skateboards, intended to fill "a void in the industry" for a skateboard brand run by women with an all-female team.[10][13]
In 2017, Baker was the only skateboarder to be nominated for an ESPY Award in the "Best Female Action Sports Athlete" category.[14]
Prior to turning pro and moving to New York, Baker worked as a graphic designer in Los Angeles, an environment they found unfulfilling;[2] however, Baker continues to pursue creative projects, including a collaboration with fellow NYC skateboarder Brian Anderson resulting in the release of Cave Homo ("Human Beware" in Latin, a pun on Cave emptor, or "Buyer beware") Volume II in which they were featured (Volume I featured Anderson), a limited-run zine whose inverse side features original works by queer artists, and a portion of whose proceeds goes to support The Trevor Project.
In 2022, Baker starred in the Netflixbiographicaldocumentary film titled Stay on Board: The Leo Baker Story, directed by directed by Nicola Marsh and Giovanni Reda.[20] This documentary details his life and experience as a transgender man. It focuses on his struggles as a trans man in the professional skating industry, as well as how these experiences have influenced his day to day life.[21]
Competition history
2019
World Skate OI STU, Open Qualifiers, in Rio De Janeiro, Brazil: 20th place (street)[22]
USA Skateboarding National Championships, Finals: 4th place (street)[23]
