Your Daily (Gay) Athlete

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Trekr Adventures helps people connect, travel, and experience the world with like-minded individuals. We organize trips of a lifetime while fostering an inclusive and fun atmosphere. Our flagship sailing adventure trips take place on luxury style catamaran yachts in exotic locations. We are LGBT owned and operated, with the overarching goal of fostering a community environment that lets everyone have a fun and relaxing time, all while traveling to destinations that are both interesting and unique.

 

The team behind every Trekr adventure has a wealth of experience traveling the world. We each bring unique qualities to every experience, along with a shared sense of adventure and a common dedication to building adventures that will inspire an unending sense of adventure in others. Below, meet the team that works tirelessly to plan and execute each of our Treks.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

PATRICK BUTLER

Patrick serves as Chief Marketing and Promotions Officer for Trekr Adventures. In addition to his marketing role, Patrick serves as a member of the sailing and Trekr operations team. Patrick has been sailing on boats since he was in high school where he started his sailing career crewing on a weekly race team. In addition to sailing, he is an avid skier, beach goer, and (of course) traveler. Patricks holds an American Sailing Association 104-level sailing certification.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

CHARLES CARSON

Charles recently quit a desk job in Washington, DC to join Trekr Adventures full time. He got his start teaching the sailing merit badge at a Boy Scout summer camp but more recently has been sailing with Pentagon Sailing Club in DC. Charles holds an American Sailing Association 104-level sailing certification.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

MARK DANN, CO-FOUNDER

Mark Dann is one of the co-founders to Trekr Adventures. He is a veteran of numerous overseas assignments with the US Peace Corps and the National Democratic Institute. Mark brings a global perspective that combines unique travel experiences with the culture of the host countries where Trekr operates. Mark holds an American Sailing Association 104-level sailing certification.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

LANE HUDSON

Lane grew up next to the ocean and always believed in her majesty. A recovering political hack, sailing has become not only therapy, but a passion that drives his daily life. There are fewer constants in life more reliable than the ocean and that the wind will always blow. Lane holds an American Sailing Association 104-level sailing certification.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

JOSE RODRIGUEZ

José has over 10 years of combined experience as an advocate, activist and public servant. He grew up in North Carolina but calls both Chicago and Washington, D.C. home. Jose, an avid traveler, has assisted Trekr on multiple expeditions including the British Virgin Islands, Thailand and Croatia. When not kayaking or snorkeling, José can be easily found exploring his culinary interests at a traditional restaurant or tasting local wines.

 

 

 

 

 

JOSH SEEFRIED, CO-FOUNDER

Josh serves as Chief Executive Officer of Trekr Adventures. Prior to his role with Trekr, Josh was a Captain in the United States Air Force where he served as a finance officer. During his time in the Air Force he cofounded the LGBT military group OutServe which grew to thousands of members across the globe. Josh holds an American Sailing Association 104-level sailing certification.

 

SULTAN SHAKIR, CO-FOUNDER

Sultan is a cofounder of Trekr Adventures. He has been participating in nautical sports for over a decade, winning 3 gold medals at the US Masters in rowing before reconnecting with his love of sailing. He serves as Executive Director of SMYAL, an organization that works to support and empower lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and questioning youth in the Washington, DC metro area. Sultan holds an American Sailing Association 104-level sailing certification.

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Jallen Messersmith

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Amsterdam Lowlanders Rugby Team

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Konrad Eiring

During Konrad Eiring's Class 3A sectional cross country meet in 2013, the Barrington runner suffered a fractured fibula. The injury required him to spend more than three months in a walking boot and cost him the majority of his junior track season. For a competitive young athlete — as a sophomore he anchored Barrington's state title-winning 4x800-meter relay — the injury was devastating. However, the injury served as a twist of fate that changed Eiring's life for the better.

 

As he stayed in shape by swimming laps alone in the pool, Eiring made the decision to tell his family, friends and teammates that he was gay.

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"It allowed me an opportunity to be on my own and think about life without a lot of distractions," Eiring said. "It was a blessing in disguise. To be honest, I don't know if I would have come out when I did without the injury. I may have waited for college."

 

Eiring first came out to two close friends from a youth group with whom he had a close bond beyond sports. They reacted with support. Eiring began to tell teammates a few months later. He told track teammates, typically one-on-one, when they were out for training runs. And the day after his junior season ended, he wrote a Facebook post telling all of his connections that he was gay.

 

"My senior year, I was the most confident I ever was on the track," Eiring said. "It was really powerful. I didn't have to worry about these little things I was trying to hide."

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Drew Davis

Drew Davis bounced the volleyball twice, spun it in his right hand then held the ball in front of him, closed his eyes and took a deep breath.

 

The Limestone College volleyball coach chose Davis — who is playing his first season at the school in Gaffney, South Carolina — as the team’s first server to start the 2017 season.

 

Davis threw the ball high, hit it, and sent it at the nation’s No. 10-ranked men’s volleyball team, George Mason.

 

“It pretty much blew up the serve receiver and middle back,” said Davis, who shared publicly he is gay in March 2014.

 

Despite Davis’ strong serve, George Mason managed to win the first point and took the first set, 25-17.

 

Limestone looked poised to win the second set, and Davis recorded a kill and a block on consecutive points that put his team ahead 20-17. Limestone reached set point with a 24-22 lead, but George Mason rallied for a 29-27 win in the second set and closed the match with a 25-19 third-set win.

 

“The whole entire match, I had goosebumps,” Davis said. “The hair on the back of my neck was just standing straight up.”

 

The 6-foot-3, 190-pound Davis played every point of the match, and he recorded seven kills, seven digs, two aces, and one block in that Jan. 7 season opener.

 

“After a loss, I’ve never felt good, but the way we played and the way we fought … everybody was on the same page. We were all playing really well.”

 

As a redshirt senior, Davis is enjoying his second chance at volleyball more than he expected.

 

Davis thought he was done playing when he transferred from Erskine College after the 2015 season. He decided to leave the conservative Christian school in Due West, South Carolina, after it adopted a stance against homosexuality in February 2015.

 

The hostile environment created by the Erskine Board of Trustees’ action led to Davis being threatened. On March 20, 2015, an anonymous letter was put inside his car. Davis remembers the letter saying:

 

“Dear faggot, If you don’t leave this semester or you decide to come back, we’ll make sure that you or your family or someone that you love is going to get hurt.”

 

Davis said he felt “shock” getting the letter and thought, “Are these people really serious? What am I doing that’s making them so mad besides liking men?”

 

He never wavered in his conviction of being out as gay. But when Davis finished his junior season on the Erskine volleyball team, he enrolled at College of Charleston. He served as a student volunteer assistant coach with the women’s volleyball team the fall of 2015, and he expected to finish college at the Charleston, South Carolina, school, which doesn’t offer men’s volleyball.

 

However, a friend on the Limestone women’s volleyball team kept telling him to use his final season of eligibility. She connected Davis with the Limestone men’s volleyball coach, and after they talked, Davis enrolled at the non-denominational Christian college in January 2016. Conference Carolinas rules forced Davis to redshirt the 2016 season since he was going to play within the same conference.

 

“I’m so happy here and so happy with my teammates and the way I was accepted here,” said Davis, who was a student assistant coach with the Limestone women’s volleyball team this fall. “My sexual orientation, it’s not a big deal, and it shouldn’t be a big deal.”

 

Davis won a Conference Carolinas title and reached the NCAA tournament as a sophomore at Erskine. As one of five seniors in the Limestone starting lineup, he hopes to help his teammates experience those accomplishments. That pursuit resumes Saturday, when Limestone plays its second match of the season and its first conference match.

 

“I’ve never been happier,” Davis said. “I wish I would have went here from the very beginning.”

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Matt Dooley

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Liam Moya

 

As an alpine ski racer at Rocky Mountain College in Billings, Montana, I am very comfortable being gay. Even in high school, being a gay skier was never an issue. But it was my own internalized fears that nearly caused me to give up another passion of mine.

 

I’ve been skiing since I was 8 and racing since 14. I always loved skiing because it was something my older brother (now 23) and I had in common. I love racing because it allows me to use my competitive side.

 

I had never really stuck with competitive sports before. I joined the high school ski team at Concord-Carlisle High School in Concord, Massachusetts, not expecting to like it, but I caught the racing bug. Ski racing, being an individual sport, allows me to compete against others, as well as myself. You are trying to be the fastest athlete down the hill, and you are trying to be faster than your last run. It’s about bettering your own time, as well as advancing on others.

 

Alpine racing is an individual sport, and in high school not much interpersonal interaction takes place when compared to larger team sports like football or basketball. During my high school racing career, I didn’t talk much to my teammates and just focused on being the quickest down the hill I could be.

The bulk of my teammates barely knew me to begin with, and frankly, if they knew I was gay, I didn’t really care. When it came to ski racing and my teammates, I never really had an issue being gay because I never cared about what they thought.

 

I only realized and fully accepted my sexuality sophomore year. I had a crush on a guy in my class, who would become the first person I came out to. He handled it well and became a helpful ally. He kept my secret. He and a few of my closest friends were the only people I told. I never fully came out until the end of senior year.

 

Where my sexuality was a problem — at least in my mind — was with my other passion: sports photography.

 

As a photographer, I was at most sporting events. I attended basketball, football, hockey and lacrosse games. I got into sports photography as a high school sophomore when one of the players on the boys ice hockey asked me to take photos for the team. I ended up loving the challenge of sports photography, especially in low-light situations. Before that, the only sports event I took photos of was an international ski jumping festival in Brattleboro, Vermont.

 

I was hooked. I didn’t cover football and basketball until junior year and then it became incredibly nerve-wracking. Despite me not really being friends with the athletes themselves, I was still very much concerned about them finding out I was gay.

 

I was especially afraid of the football players. They were the most built young guys I had ever seen and they could easily beat me up if they wanted to. I was a pretty small guy — 5 feet 11 and only 150 pounds with hardly any strength. It wasn’t until senior year that I really started lifting weights, but I still couldn’t defend myself against a football player if one picked on me.

 

There is the image that society creates about football players being the alpha males of high school and I bought into that image. They’re the guys you don’t want to mess with. You don’t want to talk to their girlfriends, and you don’t look them in the eye. You don’t talk to them unless they talk to you first. I never really communicated with them.

 

I just took their pictures, but I was afraid they were going to find out the guy taking their pictures was gay. I didn’t want them to humiliate me or bully me, and particularly stopping me from doing what I enjoyed.

 

I didn’t take their pictures as a form of stalking them or being creepy as I feared they would perceive. I did it because photography gives me a creative outlet and shooting sports gives me a challenge as a photographer. I was terrified of them finding out.

In the spring of senior year, something gave me the indication that the athletes found out I was gay and I panicked. That ally from sophomore year was an athlete. I asked if rumors were floating around about me. He said no, but I was still paranoid.

I went on my Facebook photography page and made a post announcing that I was quitting sports photography. Not many people saw it because at the time my Facebook page had a very small following. None of the athletes asked why I stopped taking pictures. I guess that was a good thing, as I wasn’t trying to draw any attention to myself.

 

The weird thing is that all of my fears were internal. Not a single athlete ever said or did anything negative to me. I just took photos of them and tagged them in the photos. All most of them did was hit the “like” button or make one of my photos their profile picture. A handful told me that they liked the photos, which I actually came to appreciate. But if I was not at any events, it was no big deal. No one asked me where I was. I bought into the idea that had they known I was gay they would have harassed me.

 

After the frustration of hiding it from everyone and all the social paranoia, I was planning to come out the day of my high school graduation ceremony. I figured I would never have to deal with my peers again.

 

I typed up a coming out message weeks in advance and posted it on Facebook at a friend’s graduation party the day after the ceremony because I forgot on the actual day of graduation, as I was busy. I clicked “post” and slammed the laptop shut and figured my classmates would either love it or hate it, and there was nothing I could do about that.

What I discovered an hour after posting was an overwhelming amount of love and support. In my four-paragraph post I cited athletes specifically as one of the reasons I hadn’t previously come out.

 

Five or six football players commented on it or messaged me directly saying that they were fully supportive, and that I had nothing to be afraid of. One even said, speaking for the whole football team, that they appreciated my photos, and, although it can be hard, it doesn’t matter what other people think as long as I am happy. He personally admired my coming out.

 

It made me realize that even though not everyone is totally accepting, the ones that you are most afraid of may be the people who are the most accepting. They may just surprise you. And obviously the jocks aren’t big idiots who hate people that aren’t “normal” or “like them.” Love and acceptance can come from where you least expect it.

 

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Captain of Virginia Military Institute swim team comes out as gay

John Kim decided that as a team leader, he needed to set an example.

“Proud of you John!”

 

“Just wanted to say I’m happy for you. I’m glad you told us today, mad respect. I hope you’re much happier now.”

 

“You’re my hero.”

 

The night before my life completely changed, I sat in my room exhausted from a full day of classes and swim practice at Virginia Military Institute. As thousands of other things went through my mind, I kept saying to myself that tomorrow was the day,

 

How are my teammates going to react? How are they going to treat me after this? What are other people at school going to think? How is the rest of my family going to react? What are my roommates going to say?

 

As all of this ran through my head, as it has for the past couple of months. I texted my best friend and former teammate in high school and she got me to remember that life is too short to pretend being someone else.

 

Come that Wednesday, Oct. 11, 2017, I had a couple of tests that kept me distracted, but as classes ended, I knew it was going to happen that day. Not because it was also National Coming Out Day, but because I had a good feeling that it was time to be me.

 

This year I was elected as captain of the men’s and women’s VMI swim team, a 45-member, Division 1 swim team. As a captain on the team, I focused on working with teammates and coaches on bonding and cohesiveness.

 

If I wasn’t honest with my coaches and teammates, how could I expect others to be honest with me? That’s why I wanted to come out to the team. I couldn’t keep being this other person when I needed to be my authentic self.

 

I texted my two best friends with whom I swam in high school with on my club team and told them. The response I got was astonishing. “Of course, I’m with you and I love you, brother. This couldn’t have been easy, so huge respect for that.”

 

The words I read not only gave me courage, but a sense that everything was going to be OK.

 

I got down to practice a little earlier than usual and was waiting for both of my coaches to come down on deck. Since my head coach is new this season, I had no idea what to expect since we haven’t had the chance to get that close yet. Waiting nervously, I thought that maybe I would do it another day, but I knew today was the day.

 

I first told a co-captain and she was very supportive and stood next to me when I asked my coaches if I could talk to them privately. “Coaches, I have been meaning to share this with you since the first day of the season, but after some setbacks, I am finally ready to share … I’m gay.”

 

The reactions I from them were support and happiness. I asked my coach if I could tell the team, and he agreed. I asked the team to hop out of the water, and everyone gathered around.

 

As they surrounded me, many of them confused as to why everyone was out of the pool, I began talking. “Hey guys, I’ve been meaning to tell you something that I’ve been meaning to share for a while because I consider you all more than just teammates, but friends and brothers and sisters: I’m gay.”

 

As it got quiet, I began to hear some murmurs, then cheering. I got some pats on the back and felt like I was on cloud nine. When I jumped into the water and started swimming, I couldn’t get the smile off my face.

 

After practice I got back to my room and got messages from teammates saying how proud and happy they were of me. I then decided to come out to the world. I posted my coming out on Instagram, and have received amazing support from friends, family, former teammates and even former swimmers I coached over the summers.

 

“ I love you coach John, we miss you!”

 

“Proud of you coach.”

 

“Missing the days of training, proud of you! I hope all is well. “

 

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Jack Bristow

Triathlete excels after coming out as gay gives him confidence

"I have found that there is this symbiotic relationship between my confidence and success as an athlete and my confidence and acceptance of my identity as a gay man."

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Voight Demeester

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Fred Hartville

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Taylor Vanderlaan

Walking into the rec center on my first day at Ferris State University in Michigan forever changed me. Hanging up was a big rugby banner. I looked up at it, saw the players standing in a line like soldiers ready for battle and I knew that I wanted to be like them. I wanted to play rugby.

 

College was the first time I met people who didn't care if someone was gay or not. Everyone is so open minded and accepting of differences. I finally made the decision that I wasn't going to hide anymore. I hid my whole life because I was afraid of being judged. I didn't want that label that carried such a negative connotation. Still, my coming out process took time.

 

I came out to my roommate, Evan, my freshman year. He was the first guy I ever told I was gay. He was thrilled actually and thought it was so cool that someone like me was gay. This was the first time that I felt being different wasn't so different. I went through my freshman year coming out to more and more people, which really built my confidence up. I received nothing but love and support from my friends which was something new to me, but I still felt like something was missing. I always had been an athlete and while I was in the weight room every day, it still did not satisfy my need to compete.

 

Starting my second year of college, I finally decided I was going to play rugby. I never played it before, nor did I know much about it except that you didn't wear protection and you had to be tough as hell to play. I knew this would be a good sport for me to try since I don't mind getting hit and I like hitting other people.

 

From the very first practice I knew I was going to fall in love with this game. The adrenaline rush you get from tackling another player with nothing but a mouth guard for protection is a whole new level of excitement. Knowing that you could get hurt really is what kept me coming back for more. I never felt this way when playing other sports, but maybe that's because rugby is not like other sports.

Rugby is a lifestyle. On the pitch it's hard-hitting and aggressive as hell, but yet there is this line of respect every player has for each other. When the game is done, there is a social, which is just a big party where both teams get really drunk together and not only celebrate the game that day, but celebrate rugby as a whole. These are the moments that bond a team together, but I still felt disconnected from everyone.

 

I spent the first half of the season not letting myself get too close with my teammates. In an ultra-masculine sport like this, I didn't think being gay would go over too well. My thought was that I didn't want my sexual orientation to be a handicap, which I'm sure too many can relate to. Being gay held me back from enjoying so much of life already and this was no exception.

 

I was afraid of being judged, but essentially I was judging these people too. I judged them based on the fact that I didn't think a gay guy would be accepted in a sport like this with people like this. I finally hit a point where I just did not care anymore. I wasn't going to let my sexuality dictate my freedom or quality of life anymore. Coming out to my teammates was the final piece of my coming out puzzle.

 

Midway through the season I had some buddies over for a typical college Friday night. After a few drinks to make it less awkward, I gathered up the courage to tell one of them. I took my buddy Johnny outside and we somehow got on the topic of gay marriage. That's when I casually slipped in that I was actually gay. He paused for a second before stumbling some words together to ask if I was serious. After realizing that I wasn't joking, he got a big smile on his face before telling me how awesome he thinks that is. It gave me a little bit more confidence to keep going.

 

I kept it pretty hush for a couple more weeks before I talked about it again. It was our captain this time. He gave me a big hug and let me know I had his full support. After that I knew I was going to be OK. A few weeks later at a party with all my other teammates, I walked into the room and heard a couple of guys talking about something. I approached them and one asked me "Taylor, are you really gay?" My heart started racing, but I knew I this was my time to be honest and just completely come out. I jokingly said "If liking guys is gay, then yeah I am." A few people said they had no idea but nobody gave me any shit for it.

It was this night that I experienced complete acceptance from my fellow ruggers and total freedom to be myself. I no longer had to hide myself from anybody. I no longer had to lie to these people. Being gay is only a smaller fraction of what makes up who I am, but knowing that I didn't have to hide anymore is an overwhelming feeling. What made this experience so special was the support and respect I got from these guys. The barriers that kept me from getting close to them were gone and my teammates became my brothers. When they saw me being true to myself, they respected me for it. Being out to them strengthened my relationships with them and ultimately led to more confidence and better performance on the field.

 

What I love most about rugby is the sense of camaraderie and the respect you have for your fellow rugger. In rugby, it doesn't matter where you came from, what race you are, your economic status or even your sexual orientation. It takes a lot to lace up those boots and other rugby players recognize and respect that. Rugby is not for everyone which is why being a rugby player gives you that mutual connection to other ruggers. This is the one sport that has let me feel normal. It's given me this brotherhood that I never experienced before.

 

I can look at the bruises and scars that I get from games and be proud of them because they are so minimal to the scars I got trying to get to this point. I earned my spot on this team. I was equal to them. Being gay no longer mattered. I'm not just the token gay kid trying to play rugby, I'm just a normal kid playing rugby.

 

Rugby changed my life because it taught me a few things. It has taught me that there is nothing that should ever hold you back from going out and trying new things and experiencing life. Being different is not a reason to miss out on other opportunities. Stereotypes are bullshit and only hold you back from pursuing what you really want in life.

 

I also learned not to be ashamed of who I am, especially for something I have no control over. I was able to start living my life without compromise and without shame. I've grown to love myself and be proud of who I am. This year was the first time I experienced a sense of pride in who I am. I am proud to be gay. I am proud to be a gay athlete. I am even more proud to be a gay rugby player at Ferris State.

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Simon Thibodeau

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Nick Vallejo

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Nuno Costa

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Nathan Matthews

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Jack Strickland

WICHITA, Kansas — About a week before his indoor track and field conference meet, Jack Strickland got a text from his Friends University coach to "come by my office."

 

Strickland, a junior, arrived to learn he would be the team's male athlete receiving the Champions of Character award at the 2016 Kansas Collegiate Athletic Conference meet. Each KCAC team's coaches select one athlete to receive the award for having a 3.0 GPA and portraying "respect, responsibility, integrity, sportsmanship, and servant leadership."

 

"It's a great honor, and I was so happy," says Strickland, who started telling teammates he's gay near the end of his freshman year. "I didn't think I would ever be nominated for it."

 

The conference meet, which took place Feb. 5 and 6 in Pittsburgh, Kansas, included several highlights for Strickland. His team captured its second consecutive indoor conference title, and Strickland scored points and set personal records in both his events.

 

He finished second in the 60-meter hurdles in 8.62 seconds and took eighth in triple jump by going 42 feet, 9 inches. His hurdle time ranks 43rd in NAIA this season.

 

"I'm always really slow out of blocks, but I got a good jump," Strickland says of his hurdle race. "I didn't hit any hurdles, so for me, it was two great races [in prelims and finals]."

 

Strickland, who is talking publicly about being gay for the first time, says he's had a great experience in the two years since he started coming out to his team.

 

Madison Behny was Strickland’s first teammate to learn he’s gay. Her boyfriend lived next door to a drag queen, and one night going to see the neighbor perform at a gay club, she saw Strickland with a guy.

 

"The gig is up," Strickland said of his reaction. "After that, she was just like, ‘Nobody cares. I hope you know that.’ "

 

Behny proved to be right as Strickland gradually told his other teammates during the next several months.

 

"On my team, that's not a factor," Strickland says of his sexuality.

 

The 6-foot-1, 185-pound Strickland is a native of Wichita, Kansas, which is where Friends University is located. He initially attended the University of Kansas after high school, but the three-sport high school athlete transferred to Friends, a private non-denominational Christian university, after his first semester to resume his athletics career.

 

"I didn't want to do athletics in college when I got out of high school, because I wanted to come out instead. I didn't think I could come out and be an athlete," Strickland says. "To see where I am now and getting an award from my conference ... it's just one of those things that I'm surprised where I am at in my life, and I'm happy with it."

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Luke McAvoy

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Ben Larison

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Robbie White

 

EVANSTON, Illinois — Guys were undressing after practice when Robbie White walked into the Northwestern men’s soccer team’s locker room. Before taking off his goalie gear, he said he had an announcement.

 

The locker room became quiet.

 

A month earlier, White told his teammates in his recruiting class that he is gay.

 

Now this was the final day of practice in May before everyone left for the summer, so with a nudge from his roommate, White decided to clue in everyone else.

 

“All right, I’m gay,” White said. “Carry on with your day.”

 

His teammates didn’t carry on. They cheered and clapped then lined up to give him hugs.

 

“I felt a lot of love,” White said. “That was one of my top moments here at school. Everyone was smiling and cheering. It was great.”

 

Now, he is coming out publicly, apparently becoming the first LGBT athlete from a men’s team sport in the Big Ten Conference to come out publicly during his college career. He’s also believed to be the first men’s soccer player from any of the Power Five conference schools to come out publicly as LGBT during his college career.

 

“I just wanted to be a normal guy that can have his wife and kids,” White said. “Getting from there to here has been a process, but I’m happy I made it.”

 

White coming out publicly as gay is the culmination of an intense 13 months that started with his first career start in goal for the Wildcats.

 

On Sept. 18, 2016, White was named the starting goalie for the first time as Northwestern faced No. 3-ranked Indiana. A redshirt freshman at the time, he made six saves and held the Hoosiers scoreless for 110 minutes in a double overtime match that ended in a scoreless tie.

 

But after the match, he learned he broke his right foot during the final minute of regulation — an injury he continued to play with during the two overtimes. His season was done.

 

The months of rehab for his foot started to weigh on him, and in early 2017, a trainer noticed White was, what he describes now as, “a little more down for a week or so.” The trainer suggested White see a counselor, which he did.

 

He talked through the malaise of rehabbing his foot, but White also talked to the counselor about a secret he’d known, on some level, for five years — that he’s gay.

 

“As much as I didn’t want to be gay at the time, I had to accept that I was,” White said. “There’s no point in fighting it. You can’t really change it, so you might as well live your life the way you should live it.”

 

White gradually started telling his friends that he’s gay, and the first teammate he told was his roommate Braden Thuraisingham.

 

He told Thuraisingham the Saturday before Easter as a test run before coming out to his parents and two sisters on Easter. And the Monday after Easter, he came out to his teammates in his recruiting class.

 

“I was on a tear of telling people at that point,” White said.

 

But going from telling the seven teammates he’s closest with to telling a room of 30 guys stopped the tear. That was until Thuraisingham encouraged him to come out on the final day of spring practice.

 

That went well and so has this season.

 

On Sunday, White completed his first regular season since coming out to his team. The 6-foot-2, 185-pound redshirt sophomore started the most games in goal this season for Northwestern, and the Wildcats (6-11 overall, 1-7 Big Ten) went 4-4 in games he started.

 

White has started eight of the last 10 games and will likely be the starting goalie when Northwestern opens the Big Ten tournament this week as the No. 8 seed.

 

“I’m definitely happier now,” White said. “I don’t really think I have the most interesting of stories, but I’m just trying to make it easier for other people to come out in the future.”

[LoveNDino]

Steven Stumph

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[LoveNDino]

Cory Moreno

 

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[LoveNDino]

Max Showalter

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[LoveNDino]

Nathan Fort

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Basketball player explains why he came out after being raped

The sports star also discussed his battle with depression and near fatal suicide attempt.

Nathan Fort says he decided to come out after surviving a suicide attempt and overcoming a sexual assault.

The college basketball player admitted that before coming to terms with his sexuality, he had been homophobic and “hated” LGBT people.

 

He even said that “gays had no meaning in the world”, however he says he knew deep down that he was only trying to hide his true feelings.

After struggling to suppress his true feelings, Fort considered taking his own life by jumping from a cliff. In a cruel twist, as he walked away from the cliff’s edge, he slipped and fell.

 

Despite his near death experience, Fort says he felt stronger and brave enough to go his first gay date.

However, the meet up did not go as planned, after events took a sinister turn.

“We left the club together, my heart beating fast, excited and nervous about what the night might hold,” Fort wrote in Outsports.

 

“He drove and we talked. It seemed like this was going to be my perfect first time with a guy.

“It wasn’t. He wrestled me out of the car. He sexually abused me. He drugged me. He raped me.

“He changed my life. It’s a struggle to just write a few lines about it, but it’s part of who I am now.”

“It’s important to me to share this now because I know many other guys have been in similar situations,” he explained.

 

The sports star says the incident “forced back into the closet” and it took him a full year to come to terms with what had happened.

Despite the traumas he had experienced, Fort says he eventually gained the courage to come out to his fellow teammates, friends and family.

He says he is sharing his story to encourage others who might be struggling to come to terms with their own sexuality.

“Don’t waste your life being depressed like I did, to the point where that depression almost takes away your life.

“Don’t let anybody hold you back for what you want to do in life, because it’s your life, not theirs.”

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[LoveNDino]

Paul Messana

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