Many people look at the ski industry as a neutral place. In all honesty it's probably more progressive than that. Unfortuntely, there will always be bigots and time isn't the fasted to push out the bad vibes.
When I was coming up in skiing, I was still naive enough to think I was still straight. Like anyone growing up, life is full of changes that you adapt to as they come at you. Being from an ultra conservative, extremely religious circle I never planned or wanted to "end up" gay. I prayed and sometimes cried about it many times.
Some of my fondest memories from childhood were at one of the church summer camps I went to from 6 ish till I was 13. Nothing happened, everything was mellow. I only mentioned because I don't hate religion. I don't hate religious people. I don't think it's any more off than my being unsure of what the hell is going on.
In the ski industry, many times people say that it's not an issue. To a lot of them that's true. To some other's not so much. If I go a full week without hearing n****** or f***** at work it's almost strange. I always wonder what some peoples tone would be if they had a black guy working with them. I've worked at these same mountains with black men and noticed a shift when they're around.
An issue with homophobia is that people don't see it, and the gay people in those situations are scared to speak up. When you've grown up in a climate that taught you to hate what you are, it's difficult to accept and speak up for yourself. I'm not a role model but an example on this issue.
In some cases I was scared of getting fired, in others worried about blowback in the industry from making a scene. In all honesty the real OG's of park building don't give a fuck about race, gender, orientation, they care about how well you can rebuild a takeoff, set a rail, or groom a trail. Unfortunately there will always be a few bad seeds to mud the waters.
It's a shitty situation to be in honestly. To hear racist and homophobic stuff on the regular in addition to the general stresses of the job.
I can't even imagine the stresses of being at the top levels of competition.
Let's keep skiing weird.
When I was coming up in skiing, I was still naive enough to think I was still straight. Like anyone growing up, life is full of changes that you adapt to as they come at you. Being from an ultra conservative, extremely religious circle I never planned or wanted to "end up" gay. I prayed and sometimes cried about it many times.
Some of my fondest memories from childhood were at one of the church summer camps I went to from 6 ish till I was 13. Nothing happened, everything was mellow. I only mentioned because I don't hate religion. I don't hate religious people. I don't think it's any more off than my being unsure of what the hell is going on.
In the ski industry, many times people say that it's not an issue. To a lot of them that's true. To some other's not so much. If I go a full week without hearing n****** or f***** at work it's almost strange. I always wonder what some peoples tone would be if they had a black guy working with them. I've worked at these same mountains with black men and noticed a shift when they're around.
An issue with homophobia is that people don't see it, and the gay people in those situations are scared to speak up. When you've grown up in a climate that taught you to hate what you are, it's difficult to accept and speak up for yourself. I'm not a role model but an example on this issue.
In some cases I was scared of getting fired, in others worried about blowback in the industry from making a scene. In all honesty the real OG's of park building don't give a fuck about race, gender, orientation, they care about how well you can rebuild a takeoff, set a rail, or groom a trail. Unfortunately there will always be a few bad seeds to mud the waters.
It's a shitty situation to be in honestly. To hear racist and homophobic stuff on the regular in addition to the general stresses of the job.
I can't even imagine the stresses of being at the top levels of competition.
Let's keep skiing weird.
