"I know a lot of queer surfers I’ve talked to feel [this]: you sort of have to live a double life. You might be out and proud on land, but in the water, you better keep your mouth shut."
It ain’t easy being a fag, this I do know.
For whatever reason, cheekbones, high-ass, penchant for all-white ensembles, I’ve been hassled since I was kid, called a faggot, poofter and so on.
And so, I sorta hear this.
New Yorkers Johnny Cappetta and Momo Hudes have created a gang of queers and non-whities, who wanna surf but who don’t dig, and who get freaked out, by the taciturn white bastards, men, who dominate American lineups.
Benny’s Club organises surf lessons, happy meet-ups in the Rockaways and much chatter about technique and how lineups work.
In an interview with i-d magazine, founder Momo Hughes, recalls an early taste of the horror,
“As a very small, skinny kid, [I’d] have grown men threatening to fight me on a regular basis. It’s just pretty aggressive. Even as you get older and better and become a regular at certain spots, there’s very much a pervading vibe in the water: shoulders down, head hunched, black wetsuit, don’t say shit to anybody. I felt, and I know a lot of queer surfers I’ve talked to feel [this]: you sort of have to live a double life.” JOHNNY CAPPETTA
“It was just my dad and my brother and all of these older white men. It was really intimidating. I don’t know if when I was younger I realized how uncomfortable I was by that — I think I was more concerned with the ocean at that point. There’s that feeling that if I drown, if something happens, none of these people would bat an eye or be concerned. Just being in the water by yourself and not knowing anyone is really scary. The straight, white male energy is the reason why Benny’s was created, but also to make it a less intimidating and scary experience to go out there alone. Occasionally at Rockaway, I’d see a female surfer, and those times were so exciting. Any time that would happen I’d always paddle closer to her. That’s so much less intimidating, and inspiring to see — a female surfer out there in a crowd of men.”
Johnny says,
“As a very small, skinny kid, [I’d] have grown men threatening to fight me on a regular basis. It’s just pretty aggressive. Even as you get older and better and become a regular at certain spots, there’s very much a pervading vibe in the water: shoulders down, head hunched, black wetsuit, don’t say shit to anybody. I felt, and I know a lot of queer surfers I’ve talked to feel [this]: you sort of have to live a double life. You might be out and proud on land, but in the water, you better keep your fucking mouth shut. There’s a feeling of keeping your politics out of the water. And what that really means is, don’t make any of the straight, white, old men consider things that they don’t want to consider. I think that Benny’s for me is a way to open space in the lineups, in the water, to an understanding and an acceptance of our whole humanity as surfers, and to provide access. It’s an intimidating and serious place and if you’re not white and male passing, it’s very hard to even get a wave, let alone feel comfortable.”
I’m white and male-passing so I get by.
You?
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Sodomites everywhere should be brutally attacked.
hmmm. technically I have had sex with uglier “women”
So gay surfers are like Vegans? They just gotta to tell ya!
They don’t look like Balaram, Will (Skudin) or Rick (Rasmussen).
As a pretty green newbie I paddled out at a secluded West Side spot to the warm embrace of Johnny Boy and one of the Keaulanas. Subtle diplomacy was required, and worked a treat.
At our local beachie, smaller days have predictably turned into a VAL Charlie Foxtrot, the majority of the newbies women. Some have progressed and improved quickly, and I really enjoy surfing with them. Super stoked and friendly, and in a very non-Inertia way. Simple longboard fun.
Others are grumpy fucks that obviously paddle out with a massive chip on their shoulder. This, also predictably, gets you absolutely nowhere – Equal Opportunity burning ensues. Some of these grumps have little rainbow coloured virtue-signalling ribbons tied to their wettie zippers, so maybe they are from the local chapter of Benny’s club. Who cares.
Leave your identity issues at home, and paddle out to go surfing. Embrace what that means, and the commonality it implies. Don’t foist whatever you think is special/hard/wonderful/terrible about you and your life upon the rest of us. We all struggle with something.
If someone has a go at you in the surf, it’s very likely because of your actions, not what you identify as. Get over yourself, and be generous instead of expecting special treatment
Exactly mate. Spot on.
Definitely no intimidation or slaps being handed out on an A+ day at Pipe.
Nooooo, sir….
“founder Momo Hughes, recalls an early taste of the horror”
more like Homo Hughes.. am i right?
On all fours?
i’d be giving it, not taking it!
Isn’t that where you surf Nikon?
Everyone is just now discovering that surfers are misogynistic, racists, selfish, greedy, uneducated cunts? I thought it was obvious…
Unless you’re wearing a hard-hat and dungarees in the water who’s going to know (or care) that you’re gay? Surfing has become quite an unfriendly sport generally and I’m not sure how much sexual preference comes into it. Could be wrong though. Being friendly in the water can feel like this sometimes…
https://www.youtube.com/wat…
These shit stabbers would have their worldview blown if they ever had the wherewithal to pick up on the fact that anyone who is a rookie or a kook gets hassled in the lineup. Surfing is a limited resource and there is a pecking order. Usually the better the wave the tighter the pecking order so you better not get in the way if the waves are pumping.
These guys seem like kooks who have never climbed high enough up the totem pole to be able to paddle out and sit on the takeoff and take the set waves.
Yeah there’s places like first point Noosa, or Waikiki or Costa Rica where beginners can flounder when it’s small and the vibe is mellow, but as soon as the waves get good it’s back to law of the jungle, no matter which hole you like to stick it in.
I was just about to post exactly the same comment .
The vibe I’m getting
Is, “I surf, I’m gay and proud
But still unhappy”
Is this some alternative ending to The Warriors, with the Warriors and The Gramercy Riffs standing on the beach, and then this gang comes strolling out of the water?
warriors paddle out to playay
Good on em for establishing a support network – outside the sesh – *Edit – no one would stop em btw* but c’mon man who goes for a surf to discuss gender fluidity, or fucken politics? That’s what the Beach Grit comments secco is for! * Edit edit – Come on in, the water is warm.
“I was more concerned by the ocean at that point”
Kinda says it all really. Scary, oppresive fuckers aren’t we.
what happens when nyu gender studies class takes a day trip to the beach.
Usually one of them drowns.
nah Derek you strike me more as a western suburbs dandy.
..to the woman holding the dog [top second from right]
…#righton, #i’mwithyou. It may be “Beastiality” to the patriachy, but for me, Interspecies or not, #loveislove.