Global Gaze
Surfs Up in Brazil
Brazil Ecojourneys and GaySurfers host South America’s only LGBT surf camp October 25-November 1, 2014 in Santa Catarina, South Brazil.
Thomas Castets, founder of GaySurfers.net, tackled the subject of homophobia in the surf world with his recent, award-winning documentary “Out in the Line-Up”. He also asked members of the world’s leading online LGBT surfing community for suggestions to improve this situation. The result is a week of surfing, relaxing, and yoga in the gorgeous town of Praia do Rosa in South Brazil. After a successful first run last year, we knew we had to do it again in 2014″ said Castets.
Brazil, home to the world’s biggest Pride Parade in Sao Paulo, is also home to some of the best waves in the world, making it the perfect destination for an LGBT surf trip. The LGBT-owned and operated Brazil Ecojourneys launched the first edition with GaySurfers in October 2013, with participants flying in from Canada, USA and Argentina.
“We are all quite aware of the prejudice and discrimination against LGBT people in sports, but I hadn’t necessarily considered surfing as one of the last “bastions” of homophobia. Watching Out in the Line-Up was a real eye-opener, which inspired our company to reach out and partner with GaySurfers,” said Marta Dalla Chiesa of Brazil Ecojourneys. “We organised the first-ever LGBT Surf Camp in Brazil last year and it was totally amazing. Besides helping fund the documentary, it showed us that there are a lot of people out there who would like to be surfing but are holding back because of homophobia they’ve encountered. Surfing amongst friends allows them to live their dream, and it is so much more fun!”
Michael Sam, Ian Thorpe, Amelie Mauresmo, Tom Daley, Megan Rapinoe… the list of professional and out athletes keeps growing, but that still doesn’t mean it’s always easy to be openly gay in sport. Even for amateurs it can be a challenge, even in sports that are considered to be more open-minded and laid back, like surfing.
The camp will run from October 25- November 1, 2014 in Santa Catarina, South Brazil. For more details on the camp or about gay surfing in general, visit Gay Surfers.
Out in the Line-Up is now playing at select film festivals around the world, or is available for purchase online.
About the Author
Bryen Dunn is a freelance journalist based in Toronto with a focus on tourism, lifestyle, entertainment and community issues. He has written several travel articles and has an extensive portfolio of celebrity interviews with musicians, actors and other public personalities. He’s willing to take on any assignments of interest, attend parties with free booze, listen to rants, and travel the world in search of the great unknown. He’s eager to discover the new, remember the past, and look into the future.