While the industry as a whole is behind the times in terms of representation, there are a few athletes who choose to live their truth openly. This isn’t to say that people who chose to remain private about their identity are wrong, but we want to take this opportunity to amplify the voices that are speaking out about the issues faced by the LGBTQ community.

Dutch snowboarder Cheryl Maas was one of the first riders to come out in the industry and prior to her heading to Sochi she openly criticised the IOC for hosting the 2014 Winter Olympics in Russia. “I think the IOC should be more critical when choosing a country. When freedoms are violated there, the IOC must be able to say: we are not going there. ” If the biggest event in our sporting calendar is being held in a country whose laws and policies actively oppress LGBTQ+ citizens, then what message does that send to athletes and fans who identify that way?

We reached out to Cheryl to ask her about negativity she may have faced throughout her career “I ride with my friends! And my friends accept who I am else they wouldn’t be my friends ;) So I haven’t felt much negativity, I might not have fitted some sponsors look in the end but I feel that is their loss not mine.”

“I might not have fitted some sponsors look in the end but I feel that is their lost not mine”

Sarka Pancochova is making a stand for the community by waiting to marry her long term girlfriend until gay marriage is legalised in her native Czech Republic. Sarka spoke to us recently and said “When I found out I was gay, maybe around 18, it seemed a lot bigger deal then. I was pretty scared to be judged and not accepted. I feel like it was really good for me to just get in peace with it all and feel good about myself before I came out. So it didn’t really matter what other people thought of me. As long I felt good about myself. I used to be scared that my sponsors might drop me because of it. But then I thought that if they want to drop me they will find an excuse no matter what. So I stopped wasting time trying to be someone else and I concentrated more on being my best at snowboarding.”

Torment Mag are publishing series of thoughtful and insightful interviews, starting with Tanner Pendleton in which he discusses his experiences as a gay man in the snowboard industry. Following up with Jill Perkins, Kennedi Deck, Chad Unger, and Jake Kuzyk, the outpouring of support for this series and these people has been incredible. They’re all well worth reading and hopefully will kickstart important dialogue both in the snowboard world and outside of it.

“Just because it’s not happening to you, it doesn’t mean it’s not happening”

At this point, you might be reading this thinking ‘why are you making something out of nothing, there’s no bigotry in snowboarding. I don’t give a fuck who you kiss?’ Take a moment to consider the fact that while you personally might not have been privy to overt or flagrant homophobia in the mountains, that doesn’t mean it doesn’t exist. Just because it’s not happening to you, it doesn’t mean it’s not happening at all. 

Just look at Terje Haakonsen’s comments (and subsequent interview in Snowboarder) in response Gus Kenworthy coming out as gay in 2015. It was at best a tone-deaf brain fart, and at worst blatant and ignorant homophobic drivel.

Have you considered for just a moment, that that is the case quite possibly, just maybe, perhaps because you don’t fall into the category of people who would be targeted for such abuse? When you make statements like ‘homophobia doesn’t exist in snowboarding’, you do nothing but stifle this narrative and therefore perpetuate the problem. To some these problems exist only in ‘the real world’, they snowboard to escape these political messages but until we acknowledge that these problems are prevalent within our microcosm of snowboarding then we won’t be able to fix them.

“Until we acknowledge that these problems are prevalent within our microcosm of snowboarding then we won’t be able to fix them”

As a publication and as people we at Whitelines don’t always get everything right, and we certainly don’t have all the answers. We’ve taken time recently to listen and to educate ourselves on topics that we’re speaking out about. We know that it’s our duty to do better, and we will keep our eyes and ears open. We hope in the future to see more snowboarders who fall under the LGBTQ+ umbrella and will do our part to make snowboarding a safe space for these people to inhabit. We’ll start by amplifying riders in the community, shutting down bigotry, working with brands who support our ethos and supporting organisations who make this diversity and intersectionality their priority.