Finally! | Brian Anderson on Being a Gay Pro Skateboarder
Brian Anderson is a gay pro skateboarder. It was the worst kept secret in pro skateboarding. But as Ed Templeton says, how cool is it that the whole industry knew and it’s been kept off the radar the whole time. Finally, B.A has broken down the last taboo. Whether it was a conspiracy or just not a big deal, it’s out. Brian Anderson is a homosexual pro skater and he is legit as fuck.
The VICE piece done by Giovanni Reda starts off with Mike Carroll, Brandon Biebel, Ed Templeton, Stefan Janoski, Brad Staba, Guy Mariano, Omar Salazar, Sam Smyth, Frank Gerwer, Mark Gonzales, Alex Olson, P-Rod, and many more talking about how gnarly Brian is, how much they love him, and how proud they are of his coming out for real. Even if they have known for years.
The piece gets pretty deep talking about Brian’s thoughts on being gay in an industry that has yet to accept a homosexual street skateboarder. It’s equal parts humorous (Talking about how skaters are definitely not his type. He first realized by liking bearded Popeye characters when he was super young, etc.) and a little sad seeing the feelings he had to hide throughout his life. He went through some tough times while touring at a young age. Fighting his feelings, wondering if the skateboard world would accept him, thinking he would have to go off and live by himself away from friends and family in order to date guys and be happy.
Brian always thought he would come out once he was done with his professional skateboarding career. He used skateboarding to not think about going out and meeting guys. He thought of himself as a skateboarder first and gay second.
It did lead to some sad times for him and a borderline alcohol addiction. Irritated and angry from holding it all in and it made him more of an animal on his skateboard. He has had sex with a women. The first person he came out to, which surprisingly wasn’t Ed Templeton. Who knew he could affect some serious change. It’s as big as turning Elissa pro as the first women professional street skater. He’s the first legit pro street skateboarder. Your favorite skaters favorite skater.
So, the general consensus:
“Who gives a fuck if you’re gay?” – Jake Phelps, said in the best way.
What does this mean for the future? Well having someone of Brian’s standing in skateboarding certainly opens the closet doors to any other snowboarders, surfers, or skateboarders that may be gay and not wanting to deal with the public exposure. And hopefully no more accusations of hate crimes like the ‘Danny Way killing a gay guy incident.’ Skateboarding has come a long way since that shit.
Every skateboard media outlet has picked up on the piece and the response has been overwhelmingly positive. Even mainstream press like The Huffpost have put it on blast. While it’s a little sad that someone being gay is still so newsworthy in this day and age, Brian’s decision is breaking down some big doors in skateboarding.
Brian’s story also made headlines in The New York Times where they unknowingly picked up on the irony of a skateboarder loving police. The very same people that kick them out of spots:
In case anyone is wondering, and a lot of skaters apparently were, according to the video, Mr. Anderson is not attracted to the skate physique. He said he liked men who look like Bluto, the bearded, barrel-chested villain from Popeye cartoons.
“I’m super into leather and uniforms,” he said Wednesday. “I love, love, love cops.”
Here is the intro from VICE:
“The skateboarding community worships Brian Anderson as a god, but for many years kept his sexuality a secret from nearly everyone in his life. Our guy Reda sat down with Brian and some of his closest friends to talk about being gay in the professional skateboarding industry and why he chose now to come out.”
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