Craig Butler is a young surfer om Ireland that is sperate to make the World Surfg League and if he do he will bee the first openly gay surfer that petn.
Contents:
- THIS GAY SURFER STARTED AN ONLYFANS PAGE TO FEEL SEXY, AND ’S WORKG
- THIS GAY PRO SURFER ME OUT TO HIS "MAT" WHEN A GROCERY CLERK H ON HIM
- COMG OUT: TO BE A GAY SURFER
- YOUNG IRISH SURFER TO BE FIRST OPENLY GAY SURFER ON WORLD TOUR
- GAY SURFERS GET "OUT IN THE LE-UP"
- EXPLORE OUR GAY UCHSURFG PLAC
- SURFG: THE SPORT OF EEDOM? NOT IF YOU’RE GAY
- THIS GAY MEXIN SURFER ED HULA-HOOPG TO START HIS NEW LIFE
- GAY SURFER TALKS ABOUT THE NEW SURFG DOC FILM, 'OUT THE LE-UP'
THIS GAY SURFER STARTED AN ONLYFANS PAGE TO FEEL SEXY, AND ’S WORKG
A new documentary sh a light on gay surfers around the world, and fds secret liv, stggl for sponsorship – and even suicis. <strong>Will Coldwell</strong> reports * gay sufers *
Googlg expedns to the words “gay” and “homosexualy” only add to his ever-growg anxiety. Earlier this year, I spoke wh Chance Wheeler, another gay former llege athlete, who says OnlyFans allows him to feel nfint his body.
THIS GAY PRO SURFER ME OUT TO HIS "MAT" WHEN A GROCERY CLERK H ON HIM
Gay profsnal surfer Craig Butler once bullied kids durg his youth. It's one of his biggt regrets. Now he is tryg to change how people look at gay men sports like surfg. * gay sufers *
“I thought would be nice if I uld fd at least one other gay surfer out there, ” he says. And as the membership grew – to clu many who thought they were only gay surfer the world – so did the stori. Surfers, cludg many profsnal on, were wrg to Castets to expla how they had felt pelled to keep their sexualy secret, faced homophobia the sport or stggled the surf dtry as a rult of g year Thomas, along wh Atralian former state champn surfer David Wakefield – who chose not to pursue a surfg reer out of a fear of beg “found out” as gay – cid to go on a trip around the world to meet some of them.
Their journey – ptured award-wng documentary Out the Le-up, which premier the UK this week – sheds a light on the experienc of gay surfers around the world as seeks to unrstand why the sport ntu to stggle to be open about the the stori heard are that of former petive surfer Sie Hernanz, whose fellow surfers and roommat moved out after fdg out she was gay. It also touch on the tragic se of Ben Roper, a young gay surfer om one of Sydney’s famo surf gangs, the Bra Boys, who killed himself last year.
COMG OUT: TO BE A GAY SURFER
For all of the eye-openg experienc associated wh the sport of surfg, there seems to be ltle mentn or acknowledgment of surfg’s gay muny. * gay sufers *
“I have seen so many talented female surfers e and go bee they didn’t have the support om the surfg dtry due to the fact that they were eher gay, spected of beg gay, not feme enough or they simply did not f the image that brands believe sells product, ” she says.
“To e out as gay the surfg dtry is to step out of the bounds of what is nsired ‘marketable’, so I suffered the nsequenc of that, ” she actn shot om Out the Le-up. Photograph: PRFor Ian Thomson, who directed the documentary and is himself gay and a surfer, is not jt the profsnal aspect of surfg that n feel very hostile to a gay person.
The way a lot of the guys do that is by puttg other people down, and homophobic slurs are part of that. And you get this msage that if any way I show my te self – my homosexualy – I’m jt gonna get massacred out here. ”The issue of homosexualy and surfg draws a lot of wir problems the sport has wh diversy general – somethg that seems at odds wh the easy-gog, unterculture liftyle many feel reprents.
YOUNG IRISH SURFER TO BE FIRST OPENLY GAY SURFER ON WORLD TOUR
* gay sufers *
There is still yet to be an openly gay male pro surfer at the ele level who is currently on tour – spe the fact that more tradnal sports, such as football, gby and boxg, have had succsful athlet e out.
And another e is jt that there have never really been any gay surfers out there, so I would jt ll that ignorance and a lack of visibily. ”The aim of the film – which has been shortlisted to be ed as part of the tn programme Atralian high schools – is not simply to challenge homophobia surfg, but also to help refe and mornise the image of homosexualy general.
GAY SURFERS GET "OUT IN THE LE-UP"
The spir of surfg is eedom, yet many surfers don't feel so ee. The surf film tells the story of all gay surfers who seek acceptance, happs and some really good wav, whout any type of discrimatn. * gay sufers *
“The media is still picturg gay people as livg the cy, wearg the same cloth, gog to parti …” says Castets, who feels that the perceptn of gay culture – a siar way to surfg – hasn’t evolved much sce the 80s. “I thought if we were able to make this film, we would be able to change that stereotype and show a new image of what is to be gay 2014.
I thought that if people found out that I was gay that they would no longer want to be associated wh me and would thk of me as jt another stereotype. All the lols at home know that I'm gay, and they're not aaid to give me some harmls playful stick about the water. As a mate of me that I do a b of travelg wh for surf put , "If someone stops likg you for beg gay, then what kd of msag do that breath about that person?
One of my mat has known that I am gay sce school, and my other mate I've gone to great lengths to hi to him the fact that I'm gay.
EXPLORE OUR GAY UCHSURFG PLAC
Gay surf mps are, thankfully, on the rise. Here, exame the bt om Brazil, Costa Ri, the Canary Islands and Atralia! * gay sufers *
That night we got on the beer and I said enough is enough and turned to mate and said to him "man, I'm sorry, I'm gay. I spent a lot of my young teen years feelg like a plete loner and a total outst bee I am gay. The bt part has been people's reactns to fdg out I'm gay and beg able to break a stereotype of gay people, pecially when surfg.
SURFG: THE SPORT OF EEDOM? NOT IF YOU’RE GAY
When I me , I was chattg wh one of the pros and he was lghg and said he had seen the film that I am talkg about beg gay. "For all of the eye-openg experienc associated wh the sport of surfg, there still seems to be very ltle mentn or acknowledgment of surfg’s gay muny, " says Founr, Thomas C. However, for all of the eye-openg experienc associated wh the sport of surfg, there still seems to be very ltle mentn or acknowledgment of surfg’s gay muny.
THIS GAY MEXIN SURFER ED HULA-HOOPG TO START HIS NEW LIFE
There are homosexuals all around the world, every fay, profsn, sport and muny…and, y, even surfg. Sadly, as a longtime surfer, I’ve found that a tragic number of gay surfers are closeted, largely as a rult of the sport’s tilt towards homophobia. Like surfg, the Inter has the power to nnect people an stant, and sce there’s actually a sizeable homosexual populatn wh the surf muny, I was hopg to fd a webse where gay surfers uld meet, speak, and exchange ias.
Our missn is simple: to create an tertg and fun se where gay men and women n gather, nnect, and share their passn for surfg and other related issu. That’s que an acplishment nsirg that the long, rated history of our sport, only two profsnal surfers have ever openly shared the fact that they are gay (to my knowledge). Our se breaks down prejudice and builds up self-teem by creatg a work of openly gay surfers who unrstand the trials of beg homosexual wh surf culture; sentially, we’re makg easier for them to accept themselv.
GAY SURFER TALKS ABOUT THE NEW SURFG DOC FILM, 'OUT THE LE-UP'
That’s a big part of our missn: to remove shame om the equatn and help gay surfers be the bt they n be. I’m pecially happy to see so many young surfers jog the muny, bee I fd that the younger guys who are jt disverg their homosexualy need the most support and enuragement – pecially light of recent, tragic news of homophobic bullyg and suicis among gay teenagers.
Yep, by the time I divulged my big secret, my mat had traveled the world and been exposed to a lot of different ways of life, so my homosexualy didn’t strike them as a very big al. 2 m readIn the mascule world of Pro Surfg, there has never been an openly gay member of the Surfg World Tour…until now! Craig Butler is a young surfer om Ireland that is sperate to make the World Surfg League and if he do he will bee the first openly gay surfer that petn.
Now there have always been mours about surfers, there was even a movie ma last year about gay surfers, but ’s one of those last bastns of profsnal sport along wh football that hasn’t yet seen someone feel safe to e out. Craig Butler me out durg the movie named above last year and has sce wrten a heartfelt story about why he wants to be the first openly gay surfer on the world tour. Sh, if someone even mentned the word ‘’gay’’ around me, I would go red the face and start to sweat, he explaed a piece on Inertia.