UPDATED: Here are links to more information on "Out In the Line-Up":
Watch Trailer : http://outinthelineup.com
Pre-order DVD: http://outinthelineup.
If one reads various post in this blog, one will learn that besides being gay I am also a surfer. And I have gay friends who are also surfers. Yet surfing like NFL football remains a very homophobic sport with gays seen as somehow not masculine enough to fit the image of the macho surfer stereotype. This is true especially in the pro-surfing world. And like all other anti-gay stereotypes it is without any empirical basis. Gays can and do compete it every sport - some at very high levels. Too often we/they are simply too afraid of rejection or adverse career consequences to let the world know who they really are in fact. s a result wrongheaded stereotypes and bigotry continue. When Gaysurfers launched in Australia I wrote about it and have stayed in contact with the group. Here's a little bit on the organization which now has members across the globe:
Watch Trailer : http://outinthelineup.com
Pre-order DVD: http://outinthelineup.
Screenings dates: http://outinthelineup.com/
Facebook: https://www.
If one reads various post in this blog, one will learn that besides being gay I am also a surfer. And I have gay friends who are also surfers. Yet surfing like NFL football remains a very homophobic sport with gays seen as somehow not masculine enough to fit the image of the macho surfer stereotype. This is true especially in the pro-surfing world. And like all other anti-gay stereotypes it is without any empirical basis. Gays can and do compete it every sport - some at very high levels. Too often we/they are simply too afraid of rejection or adverse career consequences to let the world know who they really are in fact. s a result wrongheaded stereotypes and bigotry continue. When Gaysurfers launched in Australia I wrote about it and have stayed in contact with the group. Here's a little bit on the organization which now has members across the globe:
Objectives
To bring gay surfers together. by maintaining an informative and interactive site where gay men and women can:
- Gather – create a global community which includes members from around the world who may be isolated geographically or socially.
- Contact and liaise with local media
- Organise events in local communities
- Share their passion for surfing
- Publish on a regular basis articles, stories, photos and videos that are relevant to Gay Surfers
- Create new topics for discussion in the forum
- Facilitate user generated content (photos & videos)
- Provide the tools for members to communicate privately and publicly.
- Maintain a safe environment which values the privacy of members
- Ensure quality control by moderating the forums and photos
- Continuously improve the site with new functionality
- Plan surf trips
- Build geo-specific GROUPS in which members can relate to their local communities.
- Facilitate opportunities for surfers to network around the world
- Provide MAPS for each of the GROUPS which show where the members are located, where they surf, and give access to relevant local information including accommodation, cafés, surfshops, etc.
Improve the public image of gay by:
showing that gay people actively participate in a variety of sub-cultures within society, including surfing. Ensuring that GS is represented at gay celebrations such as MARDI GRAS
showing that we share a common passion for surfing and we represent part of a broadening surf culture around the world.
informing the general public of who we are Creating an open, informed and inclusive environment (we are gay and we welcome everyone who is open minded).
“It started with a Google search. I typed in the words 'gay' and 'surfer'”
They're not the first words spoken in Out In The Lineup but they make a fitting starting point for a review. Because although Out In The Lineup is a documentary it's also a journey and those words are the embarkation point.
They're spoken by David Wakefield, one-time state champion (beat Richard Cram!) and the main protagonist in the film. Out In The Lineup is a documentary made by Thomas Castets and Ian Thompson. Thomas is the founder of gaysurfers.net, Ian is a filmmaker, they're both surfers.
Thomas and Ian ask many questions in Out In The Lineup, yet their central mission was simply to find other gay surfers and have them tell their stories. They do this by loosely tacking the film's narrative journey to David's own journey, the one that began when he typed those two words into Google.
[H]is story is similar to many who are interviewed in the film. There was simply no room in the surfing culture for them to be the person they are. I speak in past tense though little has changed in the present. As David sets off on his journey to connect with others around the world, Thomas seeks to find out why the current surfing culture won't accept gay surfers.
Right about now many straight surfers will be saying that they do accept gay surfers. And individually that may be true, yet Thomas interviews surfers who show by way of media representation, sponsorship restrictions, and peer rejection that homophobia, however passive it may be packaged, is still present. The argument mounts.
If anyone questions why this film should be made then I'll point them to that moment.
And if that ain't enough then maybe I'll point out the surfing footage. Fortunately for the filmmakers David fair rips, as do many of the other interviewees: Keala Kennelly of course, Franco Vergara from Ecuador, and a couple of others. But I feel kinda churlish speaking about the surfing; the stories told are more powerful than requisite athletic talent, and the people who tell them braver than the boldest big wave rider.
Out In The Lineup will be following the movie festival circuit and I'd advise every surfer to go along and watch it.
No comments:
Post a Comment