For gay triathlete, fishg the IRONMAN fulfills a major dream - Outsports

Contents:

• FOR GAY TRIATHLETE, FISHG THE IRONMAN FULFILLS A DREAM
• FOR GAY TRIATHLETE, SPORT HELPED HIM GET SOBER AND SAVED HIS LIFE
• GAY TRIATHLETE EMBRAC HIS PLACE THE MUNY
• GAY TRIATHLETE GAVE UP BASEBALL FOR LOVE. NOW HE’S PETED AT THE IRONMAN WORLD CHAMPNSHIP
• TRIATHLETE EXCELS AFTER G OUT AS GAY GIV HIM NFINCE
• GAY GERMAN ATHLETE FOUND G OUT TRIATHLON MORE WELG THAN HE EXPECTED
• BEG ME WAS MY SUPERPOWER: GAY TRIATHLON CHAMPN SIRI LDLEY ON OWNG HER STORY
• THE VOICE OF CHICAGO'S GAY, LESBIAN, BI, TRANS AND QUEER COMMUNITY SINCE 1985
• FOR GAY TRIATHLETE, SLURS ONLY MA HIM WORK HARR

FOR GAY TRIATHLETE, FISHG THE IRONMAN FULFILLS A DREAM

As the volunteer at the fish le placed a fisher’s medal and Hawaiian lei around my neck, I uldn’t help but thk about the long and wdg road that led me to that extraordary moment, a pivotal part of which was cidg to start livg life as my thentic self: a gay man.

FOR GAY TRIATHLETE, SPORT HELPED HIM GET SOBER AND SAVED HIS LIFE

It also a hyper-mascule environment where differenc were not tolerated and the perfect place for me to further supprs any homosexual thoughts I was havg.

Work was the only place where I was still closeted, though my close iends there knew I was gay and accepted me wh open arms.

However, after a strg of homophobic ments ma by both -workers and suppliers’ reprentativ, I found myself both g out to my boss and HR and mand that thgs change.

GAY TRIATHLETE EMBRAC HIS PLACE THE MUNY

Up to this pot both my profsnal reer and amatr sport reer, I had found a lack of gay or otherwise LIGBTQ+ role mols so I cid that if I uldn’t fd that for myself, I was at least gog to make sure that I beme that for someone else. Beg gay and beg an athlete are both such important parts of who I am, and I yearn for more reprentatn the sports that I love.

GAY TRIATHLETE GAVE UP BASEBALL FOR LOVE. NOW HE’S PETED AT THE IRONMAN WORLD CHAMPNSHIP

I knew that the only way for me to live sober was also to live as a gay man, yet I was willg to take this to the grave. I was gog to cross a new thrhold and fally claim my gay.

TRIATHLETE EXCELS AFTER G OUT AS GAY GIV HIM NFINCE

That moment marked a turng pot his cisn to be open about who he was as a gay man. Pl he wanted to make sure everybody saw him petg as an openly gay triathlete.

GAY GERMAN ATHLETE FOUND G OUT TRIATHLON MORE WELG THAN HE EXPECTED

However, now that he was beg fortable wh who he was as a gay man, Delacz no longer saw pro baseball as a path he wanted to pursue to the excln of all else.

BEG ME WAS MY SUPERPOWER: GAY TRIATHLON CHAMPN SIRI LDLEY ON OWNG HER STORY

And then the other si was I’m not good enough to really make an impact beg a gay baseball player.

THE VOICE OF CHICAGO'S GAY, LESBIAN, BI, TRANS AND QUEER COMMUNITY SINCE 1985

One of the thgs I regret is that I didn't accept that I was gay earlier. Knowg that my teammat supported me, spe all the negative thgs I had heard about the way gay people are treated sports team, gave me the nfince to e out to more people.

FOR GAY TRIATHLETE, SLURS ONLY MA HIM WORK HARR

Throughout my mpaign I ma a pot of my inty as a gay man and once aga did not receive a sgle negative reactn. I have found that there is this symbtic relatnship between my nfince and succs as an athlete and my nfince and acceptance of my inty as a gay man. Gog back to my regret that I didn't realize I was gay sooner, I often try and thk of what I would tell myself if I had the chance to go back time.

Your iends love you for you, and them knowg you're gay don't change that. I’d ma lists about posive and negative reactns about beg gay. I knew I was gay, but I didn’t know whether I was ready to speak about my sport.