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
Contents:
- THIS GAY PRO SURFER ME OUT TO HIS "MAT" WHEN A GROCERY CLERK H ON HIM
- KEV MAXEN BE FIRST MALE ACH A US MEN’S PROFSNAL SPORTS LEAGUE TO PUBLICLY E OUT AS GAY
THIS GAY PRO SURFER ME OUT TO HIS "MAT" WHEN A GROCERY CLERK H ON HIM
* gay surf boys *
“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. At the time, she felt unable to adm that she was gay. “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.
KEV MAXEN BE FIRST MALE ACH A US MEN’S PROFSNAL SPORTS LEAGUE TO PUBLICLY E OUT AS GAY
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 surf boys *
“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.
“You hear a lot of homophobic banter out there, ” he says. The way a lot of the guys do that is by puttg other people down, and homophobic slurs are part of that. If you are gay, is very nontg.
And you get this msage that if any way I show my te self – my homosexualy – I’m jt gonna get massacred out here.
Kev Maxen has bee the first male ach a US men’s profsnal sports league to e out as gay. * gay surf boys *
”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.
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.