I’m a golfer, and I’m gay. Get over .

Contents:

• GAY GOLF PRO SE SPORT AS MORE ACCEPTG AND WANTS GOLFERS TO E OUT
• GAY GOLF PRO OUT TO CHANGE PERCEPTNS NSERVATIVE SPORT
• I’M A GOLFER, AND I’M GAY. GET OVER .
• LYNCH: GAY MEN ARE NEARLY VISIBLE GOLF, BUT WE’RE NOT NON-EXISTENT
• HOW AN ELE AMATR ENJOYED SUCCS, BUT NEVER FORT, AS A GAY MAN GOLF
• TADD FUJIKAWA BE FIRST MALE PRO GOLFER TO E OUT AS GAY

GAY GOLF PRO SE SPORT AS MORE ACCEPTG AND WANTS GOLFERS TO E OUT

Adults — nearly six percent — intify as gay, while a further lve to the numbers shows that almost 16 percent of Generatn Z (18-23-yearolds) intify as LGBTQ.

Jog Stonewall as his workload allows, Kyle Wn, PGA, is a gay golf profsnal and the golf and events sal ordator at Shadow Ridge, as well as a life skills ach at The First Tee of the Coachella Valley. “There actually ed to be a bar Palm Sprgs named Dk’s, which is an old joke the gay muny. It’s actually an acronym that stands for ‘Double Ine No Kids, ’ which is still reprentative of many gay upl.

GAY GOLF PRO OUT TO CHANGE PERCEPTNS NSERVATIVE SPORT

There are a lot of gay upl wh money to spend on hobbi that st a ltle b more, such as golf. The dollars, the rounds and the Gallup poll notwhstandg, beg gay Ameri still reprents taboo for much of the culture, on or off the turf.

I’M A GOLFER, AND I’M GAY. GET OVER .

“It wasn’t okay to be an openly gay golfer anyplace the untry 1990, or even 2000, ” Buie says. A hundred toward the ast, another of the natn’s largt gay golf groups te up wh equal ardor, albe wh a different approach to s msagg.

The group’s retired Mare founr don’t see a need to openly promote the group’s gay membership. From Metti’s vantage pot, a arth of gay golf groups serv as a signifier that an overt LGBTQ prence the game may be far om reachg the latter ne. “I thk that most of avid gay golfers still feel left out some rpects, ” Wn nclus.

Two exampl: TPC Hardg Park hostg the gural Pri Open, anized by Greg Fzgerald, the first out, gay male PGA teachg pro, and the USGA raisg Pri flags at s headquarters June and sharg an image of the flags on the anizatn’s social-media acunt.

LYNCH: GAY MEN ARE NEARLY VISIBLE GOLF, BUT WE’RE NOT NON-EXISTENT

Tour pro Tadd Fujikawa says that not all homophobic ments are obv to people, and sometim not even tentnal. “Most of the time when homophobic remarks are ma, they’re not really directed at a person, ’s maybe even directed at themselv, ” Fujikawa says. You h a bad tee shot or h a short tee shot and say, ‘That was so gay.

“It really means so much to have the PGA’s support over the last few years, ” said Greg Fzgerald, an openly gay PGA Profsnal the Northern California Sectn who started the Pri Pro-Am at TPC Hardg Park 2019. Prr to the event, LGBTQ+-owned bs were featured at the Diverse Bs Supplier Opportuny Exchange, so they uld vie to be part of the Champnship’s 2019, the PGA also partnered wh Athlete Ally, an anizatn foced on endg rampant homophobia and transphobia sport and to activate the athletic muny to exercise their learship to champn LGBTQI+ equaly.

Greg Fzgerald is an openly gay golf pro and he thks the sport is ready for more out members, even players. I’m glad that I’m gay, now that the U. I’m sure I would have been able to live a fe life as a straight man, but as a gay, redhead, golf pro I thk I stand out enough to be noticed and make a difference.

HOW AN ELE AMATR ENJOYED SUCCS, BUT NEVER FORT, AS A GAY MAN GOLF

Up until a few years ago, I thought I was the only gay, male golf pro the world. I got my boss and the three other golf pros om our staff together the office and told them I was gay. It was at a self-velopment nference I was at December 2016 that I realized that pretendg all those years the golf bs meant that I was actually still not pletely OK wh beg gay.

After a pse, I said, I’ve been pretendg that I’m straight my reer, when I’m really gay. That was the first time I spoke about beg gay to strangers openly, and the first time I realized thgs had to change.

However, straight men Ameri are transformg gradually to where they n know gay me, and know that gay men are not gog to e on to them the locker room. It’s important bee for years the Lbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgenr and Qutng (LGBTQ) muny has been st out of many popular sports cultur, evokg emotns of spair and anxiety for muny members who wanted to engage wh a new golf dtry is currently studyg new ways to further their cln efforts, wh many workg to engage the historilly unengaged LGBTQ muny. Consir rporatg marketg materials wh a gay uple stg by the pool at your facily.

TADD FUJIKAWA BE FIRST MALE PRO GOLFER TO E OUT AS GAY

For many years I was openly gay away om the golf urse, but at work I was a closeted profsnal and my two inti didn’t merge. The golf dtry is nservative and for me that has been a stggle as a gay golf profsnal.

Not only was I gettg e to a new facily, I was also tryg to figure out which -workers I uld tst and which members might be OK wh me beg gay.