Comg Out: To Be a Gay Surfer | The Inertia

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
• THIS GAY SURFER STARTED AN ONLYFANS PAGE TO FEEL SEXY, AND ’S WORKG

THIS GAY SURFER STARTED AN ONLYFANS PAGE TO FEEL SEXY, AND ’S WORKG

And most recently he created a book splicg up found photographs om old surf magaz and siarly beachy imag om gay publitns, creatg a kd of alternative, queer visual surf history. In the SURFER article, Milner opened up about his upbrgg, feelg unable to e out to his surf iends, and why he thought was important to challenge homophobia and toxic masculy surfg.

THIS GAY PRO SURFER ME OUT TO HIS "MAT" WHEN A GROCERY CLERK H ON HIM

From “Brokeback Mounta” jok to ments like “Queer surfers are kooks” to claims of “the media shovg gay culture down [our] throat”, was a b of a dumpster fire. ’” As a queer artist the surf world, Milner may be a posn of particular exposure to surf culture’s homophobia.

Surf culture reflects our mographics to an extent, and most surfers—certaly those wh the most fluence the culture—likely live homogeno, affluent, socially-nservative astal enclav. While today you aren’t as likely to hear the once-nstant homophobic slurs beachsi parkg lots, the problem persists different forms. She was gay—a fact that she uldn’t tell her fay, who were both eply relig and eply immersed a homophobic surfg culture.

”“I read this SURFER terview wh Keala Kennelly and was very vague—she was only kd of htg at beg gay—but was enough for me to be like, 'OK, this is alright. In the article, wrer Matt Gee sentially suggted that Horan was gay (he wasn’t). “The magaz, yeah, bee they thought I was gay, a lot of them pulled the plug on me, ” Horan told Matt Warshaw a follow-up piece for SURFER 2 years later.

COMG OUT: TO BE A GAY SURFER

In 2002, Matt Gee (yep, aga) penned another profile for SURFER suggtg that a pro was gay (they were). “There’s a history of misogyny, and there was a lot of anti-gay slang and that sort of thg.

” Homophobia was graed the slang, much like was surfg’s. Skateboardg progenor Jay Adams was part of a group that stomped a gay man to ath Hollywood 1982, wh Adams servg a 6-month sentence for felony asslt. In 1993, pro skater Josh Swll beat a gay man named Keh Ogn to ath after Ogn got a fight wh Danny Way, another famed pro.

THIS GAY SURFER STARTED AN ONLYFANS PAGE TO FEEL SEXY, AND ’S WORKG

In a short documentary by Vice Sports, after an openg montage of skate clips and dtry legends pumpg him up as the embodiment masculy skateboardg (one pro lls him “the most manlit figure I’ve ever seen”), pro skater Brian Anrson looks directly to mera and says “we are here to talk about the fact that I am gay.

Bee the 6-foot tall, ep-voiced, heavily-tattooed Anrson was also a stark ntrast om the gay stereotyp many skaters held their mds, perhaps no other pro uld have e out wh greater impact. Earlier this year, the late skate in Jeff Grosso—who admted to g homophobic language equently his younger years—created a powerful episo of his Vans “Loveletters” seri elevatg the stori of queer skaters.

Lim Anrson, Uny, Skateism, Grosso and the rt didn’t end homophobia and transphobia skateboardg, of urse. Historilly, the lack of queer reprentatn ele petn, magaz, surf films and surf brand marketg has allowed homophobia to go unchallenged, rultg a surf space that don’t look particularly welg for queer youth.

“And I read this SURFER terview wh Keala Kennelly and was very vague—she was only kd of htg at beg gay—but was enough for me to be like, ‘OK, this is alright. “Surfg is fely a totally different animal, ” says gay Long Beach surfer and former pro skater Amy Caron.

Thomas Castets, the filmmaker behd “Out the Le-Up”, started workg toward buildg a nnected LGBTQ+ surf muny a ago when he found The fledglg onle muny was able to anize lol surf meet-ups, plan trips abroad and march as a group wh Sydney Gay and Lbian Mardi Gras Para. “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.

“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.