Brendan Holer on Beg Out as a Gay Cyclist | The Pro's Closet

Contents:

• GAY BIKE
• RIDG WH THE OLST ALL-GAY, ALL-MALE, ALL-RIDG MOTORCYCLE CLUB
• THIS GAY TEENAGE CYCLIST IS ONE OF THE FIRST PRO MALE RIRS TO EVER E OUT
• QUEER & GAY BERL: YOUR GUI FOR LGBTQ+ BERL
• THE 7 BT GAY BARS PHILALPHIA

GAY BIKE

FRANCEThe Provenl: Dance at Avignon’s gay dis one night; the next, walk along the Roman ramparts of historic Arl, then explore the Luberon towns of A Year Provence. This tour clus a half-day kayak trip, a full-day termediate raftg adventure and an timate look to history and natural wonrs of the Rocky Ri by Bike: On this gay bike tour, you will explore four of Puerto Ri’s islands. “It’s not that we don’t like straight people, ” explas Jeff Rogers, print of the Wdy Cy Cyclg Club (WCCC), Chigo’s olst lbian, gay, bisexual, and transgenr bicycle group.

RIDG WH THE OLST ALL-GAY, ALL-MALE, ALL-RIDG MOTORCYCLE CLUB

That sense of belongg is easy to see as we hang out at T’s, a buzzg lbian, gay, and straight pub Chigo’s LGBT-iendly Anrsonville neighborhood, on a sunny Febary afternoon. Munchg a veggie burger at a nearby table, Drew Jeo, a spng stctor who found the Chigo Razors gay triathlon team to pete the 2006 Gay Gam here, says he only ris wh LGBT clubs. Jo a small, attu-ee gay and lbian group to bike France, Italy, Central Europe, Egypt, Portugal, Spa, New Zealand, Israel, and the USA!

” swagger (thk Dick Vale, not At Powers), all the trappgs of a tradnal cis whe male, or at least those of a ago, a time that now feels curly antiquated nsirg how far we’ve e — Holer was gay. After his parti wrapped, he’d feign fatigue, tell iends he was head to bed, then meet lol men onle and later that same night person (anywhere except for Rochter’s gay bars, which he avoid for fear that a straight iend might spot him).

’ So, to a kid the msage was, ‘Hey, if you’re gay and you have sex wh someone of the same sex, you’re gonna get AIDS and die. ’ There was no Michael Sam om the Rams beg like, ‘Yo, what’s up everyone, I’m gay and I’m cshg people on the football field.

THIS GAY TEENAGE CYCLIST IS ONE OF THE FIRST PRO MALE RIRS TO EVER E OUT

"To a kid the msage was, ‘Hey, if you’re gay and you have sex wh someone of the same sex, you’re gonna get AIDS and die. By llege, partyg replaced those activi, but he tackled wh the same gto and palled around wh a crew of straight male iends typil of that ilk and era, one which a certa homophobic slur was so woven to the vernacular that Holer sometim heard g out of his own mouth.

QUEER & GAY BERL: YOUR GUI FOR LGBTQ+ BERL

Perhaps wantg to repture some of that magic of his first weekend as an openly gay man, he moved to Nashville, and not long after that, he met Chris Cooley, a silver-haired ntist 25 years his senr. Though tergeneratnal relatnships are mon  the gay muny, Holer wasn’t eager to expla to straight iends, and so he’d rigned himself to the ia of beg out while somehow remag hidn. It’s a photo he proudly shared on Instagram, along wh the hashtag #gaycyclist — somethg he clus wh nearly everythg he posts.

As a teenager and young adult, Holer never got the gay mentor he need, one who might have broken the mold for him by monstratg that there are untls ways which one n rve out a gay inty. It’s a statistic that don’t add up, as Cyclg Weekly poted out, nsirg the percentage of the world’s populatn who are gay.

Here’s what one versn of that life looks like: Brendan Holer standg atop the podium as natnal champ, all his different selv alcg to his 6-foot-5 ame, skny, sg, arms raised triumph, a gay man lookg directly to the mera, unaaid to fully be himself.

THE 7 BT GAY BARS PHILALPHIA

While other motorcycle clubs have perhaps been active for longer perds of time (at least one group disput that they are the olst all-male, all-gay group), Empire Cy is the only one that requir, and has always required, all of s members to ri a motorcycle. "Beg a gay biker, beg a group, you fd yourself wh people who have the same terts, the same fort level, " he go on. Though E stopped ridg 1996, he is currently an ECMC Emer member, meang he don't have to own a bike or license signatn, or pay the 1960s, when E joed, "gay" was not somethg you discsed and "out" was not somethg you were.

"E lowers his voice when he says the word "gay, " even though we are chattg the lobby of The Center, as New York's Lbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgenr Communy Center is known.

Followg ECMC's history is a b of a Forrt Gump-like experience of gay history post-1950: E himself was a member of the Mattache Society which, tablished 1950, was one of the earlit gay rights anizatns the untry. ECMC also predat the fluential Stonewall Rts 1969; E actually participated Christopher Street Liberatn Day, which is now nsired the first ever gay pri para, 1970.

ECMC survived the AIDS crisis of the 80s and 90s; and today some members have married their partners wh the passage of gay marriage New York State. "Today, ECMC is vol about s existence—members wear those aforementned leather jackets and vts whout fear of repercsn; they rec members at fairs like Folsom Street East, the largt outdoor fetish ftival on the East Coast; and they hold meetgs the first Wednday of every month at The Center, which all terted men and prospective members are wele to be a member of the ECMC, you mt be a gay man over the age of 21, you mt own a motorcycle, you mt be sured for said motorcycle, and you mt be licensed to ri a motorcycle. I felt a new pany uld provi a real service not only be planng rout, rervg hotels, and gettg together a iendly and fun gay group, but also by makg better bik available as part of our tours.