Gay Surfers, Out in the Line up

  

Surfing is not merely about catching waves and living free, many people even though they are surfers feel as though they are in a prison, not able to say how they feel and who they really are. In sport that is all about freedom and expression there are those that feel so caught up and imprisoned by their own feelings that they quit surfing. Those people that deal with homosexuality in their lives feel exiled from the surf culture. It is a tough and sensitive subject that until now hasn't been properly addressed or resolved, and these people are still facing criticism in and out of the water.

 "Even after winning amateur surf contests in Australia, the fear of others finding out he was gay, made David Wakefield abandon competitive surfing. David kept his sexuality a secret for another 20 years. But when he finally decided to come out, he didn’t expect it would be on national television.

 The turning point in David’s story came when he met a French surfer named Thomas. Thomas had just set up GaySurfers.net, the world’s first online community of gay surfers. Suddenly David can connect with thousands of other like-minded surfers from all over the world. David and Thomas decide to march in the Sydney Gay & Lesbian Mardi Gras Parade, and David becomes the unsuspecting media focal point of TV news coverage – outing him to the whole country on national television.

 As unsettling as this is initially, David becomes more connected to his life, his sexuality and surfing. He leaves his job and embarks on a global journey to meet other gay surfers, ride some great waves together and hear of their fears, joys and experiences. David meets world champion Cori Schumacher, ex US pro-surfer Robbins Thompson and many more. He reaches out to pro-surfers, journalists and psychologists in a bid to understand why most gay surfers live a closeted life, how homophobia in surfing has come to be, and what needs to change. David’s discovery of the hidden side of surf culture reveals stories of discrimination and exclusion, but also of hope, energy, the love of the ocean – which create of a vision of the world where the new generation is free to be themselves and live their dreams."

There are people like Dave all over the world trying to raise awareness of Gays and Lesbians in the surfing world. It is a global community now thanks to the technologies that we have that can connect surfers all over the world.  These surfers are countering image of the stereotypical surfer, they are changing the ethnoscape of the water by utilizing their resources in the mediascape.  This is just the beginning of the push for world wide acceptance  in and out of the water.