Gay surfer
Thomas Castets
(Founder)
Thomas is the founder of GaySurfers.net, the first online community for surfers who happen to be gay. For the last 15 years, Thomas has been traveling between France (where he was born) and Sydney (where he lives), and surfing in most places in between.
Thomas was hoping to find a website where gay surfers could get together , speak, and exchange ideas. He searched online for years, but never start one. So in February 2010, while riding a wave of optimism, he decided to build it himself. info@gaysurfers.net
Cori Schumacher
(Group Admin – Women)
Cori grew up surfing North San Diego County, California, and she is still to be found here today. She shortboards and longboards, but mostly loves logging because it’s more akin to dancing. She has been competing since the age of 8 and so has had the opportunity to see the pro surfing world behind the scenes as well as garnering some competitive titles, namely 3 World Longboard Championships, 2 ASP North American Regional Championships, an ASP women’s longboard championship at Pipeline and multiple amateur shortboard titles. She supports GaySurfers.net because she feels that it is within comm
Long Read: “Best Homosexual Surfer Ever!”
Hello sweetheart!
(Editor’s note: Six years ago, I commissioned the noted Fred Pawle to scribble a story about the surf photographer Paul Sargeant’s misadventures, which had included a sexual assault on a journalist. While that story was endorse and forthing, and at one show stalled because a former Tracks editor said Sarge would kill himself if it ran, I offered Fred the slightly more uplifting story of surfing’s first openly gay pro, Matt Branson. Openly gay in the sense that drawn-out after retirement, he’d come out.
In contrast to the hoops Fred was jumping through to earn the Sarge story, Branno answered his phone on the third ring and invited Fred to his home on the Gold Coast for the interview. Arriving with a case of beer on his shoulder – oowee, Branno likes to liquid – the pair got boozed and, according to Fred, within ten minutes he’d recorded every significant quote he needed.
As the writing of the story progressed it transpired that, as a teenager, the closeted Branno had been involved in hassling gay men around general toilets. Fred called Branno,
Gay surf buddies?
by Hang11 » Thu May 15, 2008 11:26 pm
Would it bother you?
I think my mate Rob could be gay, he looks at me humorous when I fetch my wettie on, and keeps paddling up behind me when I'm duck diving.
Spending second alone together on out of the way beaches, sharing a tent, stuff like that could become quite complex. I'm not sure if I should say something to him.
He's not the best looking bloke (bit overweight and hairy), has a few personal hygeine issues, and I'm not into that sort of stuff anyway.
What should I do?
Hang11- SW Pro
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Why I Want To Be The First Openly Gay Surfer On The Men’s World Tour
Features
Words by Craig Butler, 7x Irish national champion
I’m at a place in my life right now that would have made me panic just a couple of years ago. Shit, if someone even mentioned the word “gay’’ around me, I would go red in the face and start to sweat. I don’t know how I got here, but I’m very happy that I did.
So I want to tell you something. Something that’s a little part of me. Something that you might not agree with and might make you think “what does this even have to do with surfing?” The correctness is, it probably has nothing to do with surfing. But I do know my teenage years would have been a lot easier if I could study about a pro surfer who also battled the same demons I struggled with. That alone might have softened the blow. Maybe if I’d been able to observe just how gay people are accepted in the surf people, I wouldn’t have grown up to be the nervous wreck that I am today. I know these things would have made a huge difference to me as a kid, and I believe it can make a difference to the thousands out there today facing the same inner struggles.
Growing up surfing in I