BMX Pro Corey Walsh Comes Out As One of the First Openly Gay Male Cyclists
In an Instagram post today, BMX pro Corey Walsh came out as gay.
Corey’s coming out story began in January 2020 when he told a childhood friend, but he said in his Instagram post that if someone had told him a year ago that he would come out to the world today, he wouldn’t believe it. A piece written by Kris Fox on Dig BMX recounts the next several months as Corey unflinchingly shared his 20-year secret in a “rhinoceros stampede of reality.”
Corey is one of the first high-profile male cyclists of any discipline to come out as gay, joining pro road racers Graeme Obree and Justin Laevens and fellow BMXer Matt Beringer as one of the very few LGBT men in the bike world.
 | It just sucks ya know? All this unneeded stress and pressure. All these f*cking labels everyone puts on everyone. I just want to live a quiet life as me. I just want to do my thing without having to explain myself to everyone... f*ck it! I’ll do it! I will! Now that my family knows I really don’t give a f*ck what anyone thinks anymore. |
Congratulations from Pinkbike, Corey. We look forward to a future in which people are free to be themselves. By coming out, you are helping to create that future.
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Congrats to Corey.
"Broadly speaking, hate speech, as it stands now, under both section 319(2) of the Criminal Code and provincial human rights legislation, are expressions of “detestation” or “vilification” made publicly that expose a person or persons to hatred, or are likely or substantially certain to expose a person or persons to hatred."
I’m not on any side here, but if you guys are going to delete comments with bible versus because you consider it to be hate speech, maybe you should also delete comments calling Christians effing retards and shitty people. Once again I have zero dog in this fight, I myself am not religious, but seems pretty hypocritical of you guys
www.pinkbike.com/about/etiquette
Totally understandable. I commend you guys for dealing with the large amount of short tempered people on here
As for one sided comments, someone came on with a bible verse, which admittedly I can no longer see, but I can guess a few regularly chosen ones that are often used when this topic comes up that would likely have started this BS. People in recent years have been using bible verse's as a low key insult that has an immediate semi safety barrier around it because they can hide behind the protective wall of a religion if people start to shit on them which is not just a short on the person or situation they are using it on, but on the religion they try hide their true feelings behind as well. Its gross.
When some one says a bible verse in a situation like this its targeted and meant to be an objection in the most passive aggressive way possible..
Christians dont need your help. They are the oppressors in this power dynamic.
Especially from an account that was created just for spreading hate
And no, you don't always need to comment. Sometimes you need to read the room and comment when appropriate. It's called being personable and you'll need that skill when you all grown up.
Never seen such one sided bullshit
Congratulations to Corey for having the bravery to make this announcement.
The point I should have made is that instead of congratulating Corey on a human level you decided, yet again, to throw a comments grenade and perpetuate a debate which doesn't need to happen.
At no point do you address what he has done or the bravery of that act, you decide it's time to preach your polarised view of the world. You're in good company here but all this 'God does / doesn't exist' 5th grade bullshit is massively undermining the real gist of this article. That Corey had the strength to come out to his family and to the wider world.
Look at the people you are taking on, dhbro, a 14 year old believer and a bunch of other pilgrims who are bound to be offended by what you are saying. Classic DCA trollbot. Try being grateful for the guy and leave your world views on Reddit.
Everyone is never going to agree on anything. People have strong beliefs on both sides of many issues. But it gets dangerous when either side starts sharpening pitchforks and lighting torches. If you truly are against hate you can’t sanitize it when it is convenient or aligns with your goals.
In this day and age it shouldn’t matter what sexual orientation someone has as to how they are judged.
Btw what is the Q for in the label LGBT Q?
So, kind of gives you an idea of what humanity is dealing with when it comes to free and critical thinking. I've had the opinion for a while that 85% of people are stupid(many I bring this number up to actually think it's higher, including the owner of my local liquor store). Once you put this idea into your head it becomes easier to just shake your head and walk away from situations, lose expectations of people, and maybe be a little less perturbed, though I just find myself staying home a lot more! ha ha
Fact
L esbian
G ay
B isexual
T rans
Q ueer or Questioning
2+ (represents two-spirited)
Are you kidding? The people who say that are ALWAYS busy actually HATING someone in the previous or very next statement.
One by one they all left without casting a single stone until it was just Jesus and this lady.
"Where are your accusers" he asks, "does no one condemn you?"
"No one" she replies
"Then neither do I, now go and sin no more"
The point I am making is this, among Christians (and I emphasize, among Christians) it is important for us to discuss and debate what we consider to be right and wrong. But then once we decide, regardless of what we decide, we have a very clear example of how to implement it. And that is grace and compassion. Always, grace and compassion.
So Corey, from the slightly-older-than-previous-posters Christians out here (even the one who think the Bible says homosexuality wasn't God's intent), congratulations, we wish you all the best
Cuz I think I see where you guys get it mixed up, then
Didn't you see the Gallup poll pushed yesterday, "Fewer than Half of Americans Belong to a Church". Of those, the subset of Christians who genuinely use their religion to inform their own morality is statistically insignificant (ref: the abuses of the Catholic Church, you pushing homophobia in a public forum for easy examples).
The elephant in the room here is that the religious folks in this thread are under the impression that being gay is a decision, instead of how one is born.
Do you think it’s a decision one makes? Do you remember when you decided to be a heterosexual?
You neglected to answer my question.
Is being gay a decision, or something that one is born being?
If it’s the later, did god make a mistake?
Did you just try to compare sexuality to addiction?
W H A T I N T H E A C T U A L F U C K , O V E R ! ? ! ? ! ? ! ?
There is also now some discussion between if something is a "choice" or a "born trait", which might make for some great internet sparring, but is actually beside the point on multiple levels. This will get a bit philosophical, so bear with me.
First, why would it matter if it is a choice? Do you hate or judge people who don't mountain bike because they don't? Consenting adults should be allowed to entertain themselves however they please, so long as nobody is getting hurt. There might be some grey area here legally, but morally there is no justification for directing judgement or hate towards someone minding their own business even if what they are doing is something you perceive as a choice. Imagine there is a group of people who believe that playing with Legos is harmful and morally wrong, and they frequently express concern about people completely unrelated to them playing with Legos, protest at Lego theme parks, and walk around with a sense that they have a moral mission to prevent people from playing Legos. Is playing with Legos a choice? It almost certainly is by most definitions (more on that later) but at the same time, Legos are fun, and it isn't right for someone to levy judgement or even worse spew hate just because they don't think Legos are good for me. I picked a lighthearted example, but the extension of this to cover any denigrated group should be pretty clear.
Second, choices aren't what you think they are. This is a really common confusion, and the alcoholism comment really hits this one home for me, but its can be a difficult concept for many to navigate, especially via comments on Pinkbike, but I'll give it a shot. Any complex human behavior is always a mix of genetic factors and environmental influence, there is no "Nature or Nurture", its always both. Alcoholism and other addictive behaviors are well understood to be a response to trauma, usually childhood trauma (see In the Realm of Hungry Ghosts (drgabormate.com/book/in-the-realm-of-hungry-ghosts). Every brain is different, and every trauma is different, and while there are some genetic risk factors for certain behavior disorders, there is also always an environmental aspect to these disorders. The human brain is an almost unfathomably complex network of nearly a quadrillion synapses between nearly 100 billion neurons. Your genome doesn't code the complete description of how your brain is wired, it just doesn't have enough data. Your brain is not a static network, it is changing, every second of every day, since before you were born. Everything you have ever done, and everything that has ever happened to you, has influenced the structure of your brain as it is today, and it will be slightly different tomorrow from today's activities. We all are, without hyperbole, the sum of our entire lives up to this point.
What does this have to do with choice? Our choices are highly constrained by our life history, we don't approach decisions in a vacuum. Things like where we were born, who we were born to, where we went to school, what we had for breakfast and so on will influence every decision we make. The perception that someone is making a choice, literally any choice, from a place of "free will" is really an illusion. What even would be the definition of a choice in this context? Having picked one thing but presuming that we could have done otherwise would be a common definition. But you are who you are, and if we rewound the universe to be in the exact same state it was before you made your "choice", you would choose the same thing again. If the conditions were slightly different, it wouldn't be the same "choice". This might sound like fatalism, but it's not. It is simply saying that events are either deterministic, or random, but neither of those gives rise to our perception that we are choosing something by "free will". If people aren't really free to choose, then on what basis can we judge or condemn them.
The burden is on all of us to make the world the best place we possibly can, and approaching all other humans with loving kindness is a solid start. I think its time to stop looking for justifications for judgement on both sides of this realize that we are all so much more the same than we are different.
Since the left are the ones that say sexuality doesn’t matter, why do we need to know what people do behind closed doors? If it doesn’t matter, why talk about it? They seem obsessed with something that apparently doesn’t matter. Same with race and sex. It doesn’t matter, but they never stop talking about it?
(Clearly this is a contentious topic, never seen so many below threshold comments on one thread.)
Oh and the Bible is pretty much made for shaming people into behaving "correctly"
Considering how long ago it was created it's done a better job in creating good people then modern society and its ideas. I'm far from religious but understand the necessity to contemplate religious ideas.
Let me put it this way. (Current too). Did viruses exist before we ‘discovered’ them?
No
Did they pop into existence just as we gained the ability to ‘see’ (measure) them?
No
So it’s fair to say that ‘absence of evidence is not evidence of absence’.
I would just like to hear Cuban say ‘that’s what I choose to believe’. Because he doesn’t ‘know’ it at all.
(N.b) clearly a typo above. Obviously viruses did exist before we discovered them)
I'm not reading through all of that above, but I did see many comments about why this matters. It's fine that he's gay, why should it warrant a post. Well, let me get into the finer details. This is not personal experience, but chatting with other riders who fall into the category over the years.
Action sports have very few out there LGBTQ pro's in any of them. And very few few of them are gay men. There's a lot of bro-ness and and attitude towards it from some riders. A young kid coming into being a teenager is already dealing with a lot and having to deal with the social aspects of being a gay teenager are hard enough. Without a welcoming community to look up to, that kid may shy away from something they love out of fear of being rejected by their peers for who they are. Now that kid is done riding, snowboarding, skiing, skating, whatever.
Having openly gay pro riders provides these kids someone to look up to and can identify with. It can keep them in the sport. Everything in the original post about friends and family being so welcoming, strong relationships with sponsors and the BMX community being so happy for him.
This could make the difference between a kid or even an adult feeling included in something they love to do, or feel like they're the odd one out
Not every post on pinkbike or the internet is for you and your f*cking entertainment, have some f*cking respect. Instead you just see it as something that you don't give a f*ck about so why shod it be on pinkbike. Let people who need it have some inspiration. Let that next kid who might feel excluded because they're made to feel different by other feel included somewhere safe, and maybe in 10 years he'll have a sick pinkbike edit instead of wishing he kept with it.
www.google.com/amp/s/www.tampabay.com/news/florida-politics/2021/03/30/matt-gaetz-is-being-investigated-over-possible-sexual-relationship-with-girl-17-new-york-times-reports/%3foutputType=amp
Reverse Qanon!
Half of my friends are very centralist, myself included, or old school right leaning and aren't always stoked about how extreme either side is getting, but are constantly called leftist as some sort of insult because they called someone out on bullshit and that person didn't have anything else to stand on. Meanwhile most of them haven't voted for anything but right leaning party's since they were able to vote. What a time to be alive.....
I truly believe learning to be polite with everyone is important. Sometimes that means being cool with people that don’t agree with us even if it doesn’t make sense to us personally. Again not arguing with your support of another human being.
" big-ot, noun
a person who is obstinately or unreasonably attached to a belief, opinion, or faction, especially one who is prejudiced against or antagonistic toward a person or people on the basis of their membership of a particular group."
I'd say that pretty much covers where you're at buddy.
What do sexual preferences have to do with biking?
In polite society sex is not discussed
Sex is for procreation
What is the basis for homosexuality?
Homosexuality exists across the spectrum of animals, from many varieties of mammals to birds.
What’s the evolutionary benefit, and why does it continue to exist even though it appears, at first glance, to provide zero benefit to a species and the continuance of its genetic material? Yet it does persist.
I don’t know, and I’m not sure anyone else does, but a PhD or two could be earned investigating that question.
Of course, if you don’t accept evolution, then nevermind.
This should be good.
God did not make a mistake. God is not real. Pretty simple.
No, they really don’t.
Meanwhile, remember mountainbiking?
HAHAHAHAHAHA
"No one cares about your sexuality these days."
Unfortunately, many definitely do
All the power to riders like Cory, Berringer an Jackson as they are the ones sticking their head above the wall an taking flack for future riders.
Shed load of people throwing stones in glass houses on this comment section. Tons of bigotry towards Christians. But people want to throw the insults, they don’t want to think they’re committing the crime.
Call it what you like, justify it how you want.. it is what it is and modern people hate to be called out on their bullshit.
With regards to your utopian view that you can force everyone to love, and somehow cancel the emotion of hate, it never works. What you will do is hand so much power to the top that life will become unbearable for all.
Go around and ask if you want, the only people who want to be loved by people who have been told to.. are unhinged.
I’ve never had a problem with ‘insert minority group’. Ever. Truth is, I was always a defender of people being bullied for being ‘different’. What I have a problem with is being told that if I don’t jump up and down about their ‘plight’ then I’m a hater. Or if I make a logical reasoned query, then I’m a massive bigot.
By the way, hate isn’t an entitlement, it’s a right. Incitement to violence is a crime, legitimately. Hate.. is not a crime, it’s an emotion. Normally, incorrectly foisted upon people by left wing nutjobs.
..and you can't tell me identity politics is nothing to do with left and right, that is totally untrue. this website used to be about bikes, now its becoming a left-wing circle-jerk.
all you're admitting is that you have nothing. other than a vague allegation of presumed hate.
Seems reasonable. If everyone thinks you’re crazy but you.... well I can’t help you but please continue to respond to me in order for you to feel better about yourself.
(p.s. re: everyone thinks I'm crazy lol. millions of people like the kardashians bro. popular sentiment is no assurance of sanity)
keep smashing that pathetic button.
the left: we need less hate and negativity in the world
also the left: F***ing bigott!!! (smashes dislike button)
Anyway, the heart wants what the heart wants, so good on him
to anyone posting bible verses or otherwise finding a way to passive aggressively hate on this post, seriously... its petty AF. This isnt a "free speech" thing, its you trying to rain on some ones gay pride parade. If you aint showing love, you're showing hate.
Nothing needs changing, except for the millions of gay people who still dont feel comfortable being who they are because of fear of how they will be perceived by those around them simply for being who they are.
I actually think that the all or nothing expectation is ridiculous. Like gender, there is a spectrum of how people approach any issue in life. Hate is hate, but not showing hate or expressing support while being perfectly fine with someone’s choices is not hate.
Pretty stupid way to view things.
your statement is false and misleading . it's being presented as having some kind of deep meaning when in fact it is simply not true .
we like , admire , respect , enjoy the company of , are polite to , etc. but not necessarily love .
we also , don't like , don't admire , dont respect , don't enjoy the company of and may even be rude to someone , not hat them .
His post is not well said at all . in fact it is not well thought out . ⬅️ that was a form of respectful dissent.
not love or hate .
I also think that @brianpark was celebrating how the comment was finished in that sentence from a poetic stand point of some sort, he is very influenceable in that topic, but I am sure if he actually stops for a second and thinks about the sentence, he will find out it is a very illogical thinking to actually believe in.
Picture this, your friends comes out and says they're gay. You either support them, or you dont. its really that simple. stop trying to complicate it by saying "theres a spectrum"..
I fall firmly in the bracket of ‘meh, okay’. Because strangely, it’s none of my business.
Also, I don’t see a queue of people lining up to fight my causes.
c'mon just tell us how you really feel.
(pam poovey)
Obviously some of the comments here give a suggestion as to why there are fewer "out" men in a sport that has waaaay more men in the first place, but they are probably just the tip of an iceberg of toxic masculinity and willfully ignorant religious dogma.
Anyway, the diversity and inclusion drive in cycling probably needs to formally address the social forces which prevent men from feeling they can come out, even in one of the most middle-class sports.
If you are a person struggling with your sexuality....
Love is love! Sex is sex! Just do you! Who the f*ck are we to judge?!?!?! You matter, you are loved, you have allies! We got you!
Cory.... Thanks for sharing your story with us... I hope you use your voice for those who are too scared to. Keep riding and living your best life bud!
Nothing but love for any and all ???? folks ❤❤❤
PB need to update their interface for comments... it's not 2008 anymore.
With the big difference that you are talking about a human being here and not a product. Sigh!
Americans and their understanding of „freedom of speech“.
What if i think you are an a-hole? Can i say it openly in public = yes i can. Do i need to say it in front of others = no!
Just because you can does not mean you have to!
You’re welcome.
Major letdown.
Best wishes to Corey ... and best to all who struggle with “ being in “ so they may “come out”
Peace
www.thetrevorproject.org
Also, the Kris Fox article on DIG BMX is AMAZING. Take some time and give it a read.
Why should my experiences as a straight bicycle rider differ any from someone with a different sexual preference? At the end of the day we are all chasing the same joy these simple two wheels provide and that is powerful and uniting. Much love to Corey, Kris and everyone apart of Corey's story that got him to this point freedom.
A LOT of people do... in a big way.
The comments prove it.
An thats the thing that they are resistant against, its why this part of a riders life becomes news for everyone to see. So they can pave the way for future riders and a day we all want, well most of us anyway.. the day when this isn't news. But, we're a long ways off
"Just because you ride doesn't mean you're cool"
If you're a tolerant white male that is a bit introverted, it's hard to be really aware of what's happening to other "categories of people" (particularly if you don't use/trust social media).
So don't assume that others groups are not encountering anymore discrimination, hate and so on because you likely are not aware of the extent of the issue.
I know it's 2021, but some people are still as close minded and dumb as 100 years ago.
The prior that say ‘I don’t see color’ or ‘I don’t see race’. That’s great and all but pretending that everyone is the same is completely ignoring the different experiences and struggles that some groups or races have to deal with.
So starting tomorrow, PANTS OFF.
This is huge for BMX and Bikes in general and Im f*cking stoked for Corey!
IG account if you want to show Corey some support that way: instagram.com/walshcorey?igshid=1w2yiw7abcxux
www.youtube.com/watch?v=4hn4Nlip5yE&t=40s
Congratulations Cory you are an inspiration
Some comment why the need to post about it? It's a big thing.
Props and keep riding
@pinkbike you really need to link accounts to Facebook. This will mitigate the amount of hate people think they can preach without being held accountable.
Good on you, Cory. Fly free, mate!
www.strava.com/clubs/lgbtmtb
1: people talking actual shit about the subject of the article. Thankfully these people are getting downvoted.
2: blatantly anti-religious hate speech by a few people, which is then ignored by people like @mikekazimer , who pointed out the etiquette rules of the site. These rules are clearly not evenly applied.
Meeting hate with hate isn’t a good tactic. So responding to ignorant blanket statements with more of the same will only further divide us.
Thanks
This is only self centered, attention seeking virtue signalling. Any of us really shouldn't care about others sexual orientation, especially on sites like this.
It would be great if this wasn't necessary, but comments like yours prove that we aren't quite there yet
Surely you can read that I am applauding the young mans brvery? Please read carefully before jumping on someone have some please love and understanding that’s surely what we all should be striving for! Thanks
This post is for the kids that don't see themselves represented in the sport, and to give them confidence that their sexuality won't be a barrier to entry to the cycling community.
Dear Pinkbike,
You recently posted an article about a rider coming out as gay.
This isn't really the content I care for. Most of us don't care to hear about a riders religious views, political views, nor their sequel preferences. As I read the comments, there were a few that stated similar sentiments, all of course being voted down. I believe there were some that expressed religious opinions, and those were understandably removed.
Most disappointingly though, was that Pinkbike staff allowed many hate filled comments to remain as long as they attacked people with religious beliefs. I posted the following innocuous statement, only to find it removed.
"I just come here for MTB news, but with all the hate I see toward anyone with religious beliefs, I expect the next story will be, 'Racer boldly comes out as a Christian!"
Do a better job cleaning your house; if you're going to police up the hate-filled comments, do it for ALL hate filled comments or many will be taking their clicks and your advertising money elsewhere.
Also, if this isn't the content you care for, there's an easy way to avoid it - don't click on it.
Also, it doesn't remove the disappointment at the numerous hate filled posts that are allowed up above.
Either that or spin up a second version of Pinkbike for dredges of society (maybe call it Punkbike *takes hat off*) and port all offending users into that echo chamber to save us all from their nosense!
It’s really no ones business
Why is this even relevant?
Also, queer women are constantly fetishized. I can’t even tell you how many times I’ve had dudes in bars BEG me, offer me money to make out with my girlfriend in front of them. It’s repulsive. We get cat called when we’re just trying to take a walk holding hands. The only time I’ve seen gay men fetishized is at like....bachelorette parties when they raid the gay bars.
How is it received among other women? Like you pointed out in your first response there is definitely a macho ‘real man’ type of thing with guys, but is there a similar type of thing you get from straight women?
Anyways, I appreciate your questions. I definitely don’t want to yammer on about myself on this post about Corey. I’m stoked for him and want this to be about him. If you have any more questions you are welcome to PM me.
"Corey is one of the first high-profile male cyclists of any discipline to come out as gay, joining pro road racers Graeme Obree and Justin Laevens and fellow BMXer Matt Beringer as one of the very few LGBT men in the bike world."
With love, your (hateful) christian friend.
If you actually want to know more: John 3:16, 1 John 4:10.
So you can choose your gender but not your sexuality? Weird...always figured we made a decision or realization at some point, which always seemed to be a choice of sorts. There's a problem going on in the redefining of certain terms and meaning of words with the current culture that is not good for society. I feel it's part of the tension and refusal of ideas in difficult conversations, a misunderstanding of words and there intent.
It’s typical for people with weak minds to be fearful of something that they don’t understand.
I have at least one (I haven't checked with the others) close family member who is gay (ah the old I have lots of friends who are black bit) , and have no animus against it or him for his orientation in that aspect of his life.
I do have an issue with the "you don't think like I do, so I wish you unhappiness" attitude.
All the best,