Gay speed skater Matt Rtenhoe was athlete reprentg the USA - Outsports

Contents:

• IS ISHOWSPEED GAY?
• SPEED SKATER MATT RTENHOE WAS A GAY ATHLETE REPRENTG THE USA
• YOUR GAY GUI FOR FUN, GAY THGS TO DO
• GAY PROFSNALS SPEED DATG NYC: FRI OCT 7
• EDBURGH GAY SPEED DATG (DRKS PACKAGE INCLUD)
• GAY MILLNAIRE MATCHMAKER SPEED DATG: IN-PERSON EVENT
• GAY SPEED DATG NYC: AGE 20S-30S
• YOUR GAY GUI FOR FUN, GAY THGS TO DO

IS ISHOWSPEED GAY?

Growg up, people would often tell me that I “walked gay.” I ed to wonr how puttg one foot ont of the other uld seem gay, but I heard so equently that I accepted as tth. To fd out what else was gay, I looked to popular-culture, where I saw gay men mostly adherg to a fairly one-dimensnal set of stereotyp: fashnable, wty, effemate. Historilly, gay stereotyp have been even ls kd.

SPEED SKATER MATT RTENHOE WAS A GAY ATHLETE REPRENTG THE USA

Yet today’s gay men aren’t as reliant on reprentatns crafted by others, wh social media helpg to mocratize storytellg by providg a platform for people to share their experienc.Inevably, gay people beg active onle (Twter gays, I’m lookg at you) has ed new stereotyp to emerge.

YOUR GAY GUI FOR FUN, GAY THGS TO DO

From “gays n’t drive” to “gays love iced ffee,” new on seem to appear every day. Earlier this year, Vice wrer Jam Greig attempted to fact-check the “new gay stereotyp.” GQ wrer Alim Kheraj also vtigated the gay love of iced ffee.

Both found the accuracy of the new trop difficult to prove, but explored their plex and often ntradictory origs.In that sense, the new(ish) stereotype that “gay men walk fast” is no different. If “walkg gay” really is a thg, seems that many gay people perceive speed to be a part of that. On Twter, one person wr: “Straight people, look behd you, chanc are there's a gay person tryg to get past bee you're movg at an extremely glacial pace.” Others joke that gays n halve the journey time timate on most travel apps, or suggt that gay men walk fast “to flee the straights” bee “they learned to walk to the beat of ‘Womanizer’ by Brney Spears.” Bizarrely, there’s even a petn the U.K.

To create “gay walkg lan” bee gay men supposedly walk so fast.As a fast walker, I’ve fely been there: that moment when you’re walkg through a public place, listeng to “Jump” by Madonna, and the (prumably heterosexual) public n’t seen to hurry up and get out of your way. But beyond my personal experience, and the admtedly pretty lazy humor of “gays walk fast” jok, is there any tth to the stereotype?There’s never been a scientific study parg gay walkg speed wh straight men of a siar age and physil ndn. We know that gay men tend to gravate towards urban areas, where walkg is the flt travel method.

GAY PROFSNALS SPEED DATG NYC: FRI OCT 7

Gay men the Uned Kgdom, for example, are 30% ls likely to own a r when pared to the average populatn, ditg that they’re more acctomed to walkg.Confince ach Lisa Phillips says that a fear of homophobia strangers uld make gay men walk quickly. “If gay men feel self-nsc or fear attack, they uld walk quickly to get away om perceived risks orr to feel safe aga,” she explas.

“They might also fear beg judged or stared at, so want to move away om the ‘perceived risk’ as quickly as possible.”Sam, a 26-year-old gay man om London, agre wh this.

“I lived Sydney for 20 years and there were a lot of nfint walkers Oxford Street, one of Sydney's gay areas, as this was a ‘safe’ area for people.”31 year-old Ben has never driven a r and strongly intifi wh the fast-walkg trope. “When the weather’s good and I’ve got my mic, there’s nothg I love more than sashayg through the cy like ’s my personal nway,” he says.Psychologist Ian MacRae agre that walkg speed and style n be affected by eher posive or negative emotns, but also says that gay men are statistilly predisposed to walkg fast.

EDBURGH GAY SPEED DATG (DRKS PACKAGE INCLUD)

So already younger men ci are the fastt walkers–perhaps gays jt have an edge on that?”MacRae tells me that walkg fast might be a method for gay men to give a “visual cue” of their physil fns and attractivens, and that there’s a genred element to how we perceive sexualy that may fluence walkg speed.

GAY MILLNAIRE MATCHMAKER SPEED DATG: IN-PERSON EVENT

“People are much better at tellg male sexualy based on movement, like ‘walkg gay’ or ‘movg gay.’ So gay men uppg the pace of their walkg also amplifi their sexualy. Stttg, or walkg at a rapid pace, n be a way of displayg homosexualy safe spac.”Regardls of whether gay men really do walk fast, there are psychologil reasons why many of want to embrace the ia that we do. When stereotyp are posive, people n be particularly keen to adopt them.I often worry that fdg some of the newer gay trop funny –mostly, if I’m hont, bee many of them apply to me– mak me sufferably self-absorbed.

“The form part of the language muni like LGBTQ+ people e to unrstand each other.”Benno Gammerl, a lecturer on Goldsmhs Universy’s MA Queer History London, thks that “gay’s walk fast” is rooted stereotyp of urban gay life.

GAY SPEED DATG NYC: AGE 20S-30S

“Gay men om the untrysi have very specific stereotyp of urban gay men,” he says. “Velocy and petivens is a part of that: a sense of urban life beg quick, and that a gay man has to be quicker than all the rt.”Gammerl explas that is no cince that someone like me feels reprented by the stereotyp and helps to spread them, bee young, urban-dwellg gay men are central to society’s mappg of what gay men are like.

YOUR GAY GUI FOR FUN, GAY THGS TO DO

Among this domant group, the ia of “quickns” beg a sirable gay qualy go beyond physil speed. “In many gay bgraphi we see the ia that opportuni were missed youth, so gay adults don’t want to miss a thg. There’s a sense that you might miss out on somethg ccial if you aren’t movg quickly to where you need to be.”Like MacRae, Gammerl spects that hierarchi are behd the populary of the “gays walk fast” stereotype.

For stance, gay men om ci (like me) might e this trope to subtly posn themselv as superr to suburban and ral people, who they associate wh beg behd the tim and irrelevant. This uld also expla the dista for “slow” straight people that is exprsed the majory of fast-walkg gay jok.