Outsports » Surfing

Is the ‘lax bro’ culture keeping gays out of lacrosse?

Cyd Zeigler jr. — Fri, 27 Jan 2012 16:33:14 +0000

Josh Acut of LaxAllStars.com dove headfirst this week into the question of gay athletes in lacrosse. He related an eye-opening story about talking to a group of college students about lacrosse’s “Grow The Game” initiative. What he came up against was lacrosse’s dominant “bro culture”:

This week, I was talking at a school with an emerging group of interested lacrosse players, and I brought up the idea of recruiting openly gay/lesbian athletes from other sports, and from within the community, to help grow the game. To be honest, I really wasn’t thinking it would garner the response that it did. The response to my suggestion went something like this:

“You’re kidding right!? LOL, I don’t think the guys would approve.”

That ONE comment literally made me question EVERYTHING. Since when do “the guys” need to approve anyone’s effort to Grow The Game? Since when are we excluding people because “the group” that already exists might not approve? WHY would you want to Grow The Game AND keep people out of it? The hypocrisy was staggering.

Lacrosse’s “bro culture” seems to be a cross between surfer dudes and Hacky Sack punks. Tracking down the term in Urban Dictionary confirmed my initial thought:

A lax bro is a guy who plays lacrosse and fully embraces the culture. Commonly found in Maryland, many also spend their time outside laxin’ going to Catholic schools and boating. … Lax bros will often get together for a lax sesh, which usually includes the following: some brews, some bowls, babes, Dispatch, O.A.R., hemp anklets, board shorts, lax jerseys, polos, Madras clothing, Rainbow flip flops, and sometimes Lilly Pulitzer. Many lax bros have long hair and join fraternities in college.

We’ve talked before about the surprising homophobia found in the surfer-dude culture; Sounds like it may be alive and well in the lax-bro culture too. In the surfing world it in part comes from being naked or nearly naked with other guys, and even the presence of some sexual experimentation with one another. As long as gays aren’t allowed, no one’s gay: They’re just “checking things out, dude.”

Coincidentally, his story was published about the same time as we published our recent story about Andrew Goldstein. Luckily, he and Andrew McIntosh found very little homophobia in the lacrosse world. To an extent, cultures like “lax bro” are outwardly homophobic until they are face-to-face with the issue. When a good friend or teammate comes out, the guys rally around him. After all, that’s what “bros” are for.

A pretty fun send-up of the “lax bro” culture:

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New Web site for gay surfers

Cyd Zeigler jr. — Tue, 27 Apr 2010 18:51:03 +0000

It may sound funny, given the hang-loose mentality of most surfers, but I’ve been told by those in the know that the surf world is very homophobic. So it’s great to see a resource like Gaysurfers.net pop up. The site (which you must register for to access) features ways to meet other gay surfers and has a list of gay-friendly surf spots around the world. So far they only list U.S. spots in California and Hawaii, but there are already calls for some East Coast action. Not surprisingly, the biggest concentration of listed gay-friendly surf spots are in Australia.

They also have groups based in various locations and one just for girls!

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Weekend Hot Jock: Surfer Richard Christie

Jim Buzinski — Fri, 24 Jul 2009 19:30:41 +0000

The Hurley U.S. Open of Surfing is going on in Huntington Beach, Calif., this weekend and contributing photographer Brent sent us a couple of New Zealand surfer Richard Christie.

Christie is 20, 6-1 and 182 pounds, and is a hot newcomer on the circuit. He described his surfing strength as “having the ability to surf horse-shit waves with style, power and flair.” Sounds good to us. Photos:

First two shots from Brent at the U.S. Open:

One, not from Brent, showing him sans the shades:

Nice action shot from Surfer’s Village of Christie in competition:

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Gay Aussie surf camp

Cyd Zeigler jr. — Tue, 09 Dec 2008 21:30:39 +0000

Australian accents, really hot bodies, gay guys and the beach. Um, where can I sign up? Samesame.com.au has launched a new Web series of gay guys learning how to surf. And even if you don’t learn to surf from it, there’s nearly as much eye candy as the Minnesota Vikings locker room. Plus, each week you get to vote for your favorite surf student. Whom are you cheering for?

Hat tip to Gay.com.

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‘Shelter’ sees decent box office receipts

Cyd Zeigler jr. — Thu, 03 Apr 2008 03:55:41 +0000

The gay movie featuring a couple of surfers who fall in love, Shelter, finished last weekend making $28,210 on six screens, according to Boxoffiemojo.com. But according to John Cleland in the marketing department at here!, the film actually grossed around $31,000 on seven screens because some tracking numbers don’t count a theater in New York City. Either way, it was good for 62nd place for the weekend; no film on as many or fewer screens did better. It’s per-screen average finished 20th for the weekend.

Over at rottentomatoes.com, Shelter is earning a rating of 56 right now, which is a mediocre rating. -Cyd Zeigler jr.

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