Corey Walsh is Gay - And it Matters 33

Rad to see that he is open about himself!

Does his sexuality have bearing on his riding? No. It doesn't. It does not change anything about his riding or skills. The guy is a hell of a bike rider. Is it a big deal that he has come out? Yep. Because he is a public figure within BMX and it could inspire others to be open about themselves.

Great for him to now have the confidence to be public. But when has the sexualization of anything mattered within a hobby? Choosing to be attracted to someone is a decision someone makes and shouldn't be front page news. Berringer wasn't mentioned at all, and he was arguably the first Pro/Legend to come out. This is clearly a publicity driven article for ad revenue to milk a topic that DIG already wrote a detailed article about. It could be left at the original mention on the main page.

Has BMX just become TMZ and stopped being about the riding? Your sexual decisions are your own, and needing validation from BMX doesn't show the personal growth one may gain by coming out. BMX starts with the younger generation, and focusing the spotlight on something that isn't BMX and isn't something kids should be worrying about is offensive. Focusing on sexual decisions for children now is just a step away from introducing the ignored topic of Pedophilia and how young riders are taken advantage of my older cooler ones. Whether homosexual or not, it has happened many times and will continue to happen. But these things are never spoken about in articles, identically absent from the major "news" outlets. Why? Because funding will be lost.

Let riding be about riding. If his sponsors were going to dump him there would be an outrage in todays climate where no one can have a difference of opinion. Where people automatically get bullied by being called homophobic, Karen, etc. without context and close minded media manipulated behavior. Does this sound like the acceptance narrative everyone promotes?

Is this whole debacle because he wants to start posting photos about his boyfriend or something? The value of this information really isn't there, it just seems like a way to jump on the cultural bandwagon of worrying where someone decides to put their reproductive parts.

Are you going to start discussing other topics that aren't bike related? Probably not. Even though there are much more important things going on within peoples lives than celebrity gossip.

So keep BMX media to riding, stop trying to create the division in culture by talking about something no one was worrying about before. Unless you are willing to tackle the whole can of worms.

He get's it.

a22-mentioning Beringer-if I recall correctly, he came out publicly after he was no longer in the main spotlight of BMX-that is the big difference. His friends and family knew, but it was not really anything public until his phone-in podcast a few years back. This is a big deal in that Corey is one of the well known pros currently. While I do agree that it is not important THAT he is gay and that it doesn't change anything about his riding, it IS important that he came out while being essentially a public figure in BMX because it can inspire others to feel comfortable enough to do the same when they see much of the support from other riders. BMX is not exactly welcoming when it comes to anything different.

As to your comment about pedophilia and being "one step away", please explain how you got to that conclusion? I fail to see that connection. Unless I missed something, nothing was brought up about kids being "taken advantage of by older cooler ones" until YOU brought it up. I am sure that does happen-and that is really shitty. But I don't see where that comment has relevance here. Homosexuality and pedophilia are not the same thing, and bringing up pedophilia is a pretty shitty thing to do when someone comes out. Sexual orientation and sexual activity can easily be discussed separately-and him coming out is an example of that.

If we really want to dive into things that can influence young kids (since you seem so worried), how about we add to that can of worms and take a look at nearly everything related to No Jumper, The Come Up and all your other content over the last decade +, with your constant stories about drug use, sexual acts with multiple people, other illegal activities and so on. You don't seem terribly worried about how so many of those videos may have influenced young children.

I'll give you the benefit of the doubt-maybe you had a change in life that caused you to ACTUALLY have concern.

Fabulous article that I believe is incredibly relevant to our BMX community. Yes is general we are an accepting bunch! But this does not mean that there is not homophobia among us, it is important to break the stigma surrounding homophobia which is highlighted well within the comments of this article, even if some are “supportive” they go on to contradict themselves.
Corey, big up to you for the scale of your public unavailing your a much braver man then most. You had my interest from just riding and now you have my upmost respect from across the pond.
Love is love, but let’s talk about it, let’s accept it, let’s grow together and prove that BMX is for EVERYONE.

I am happy for Corey. To have the courage to admit he is gay, and have the support system who don’t reject him, is great. I do not know what it is like to have same sex attraction, but I imagine it is difficult to admit a thing like that. I mean, we all struggle with different areas of life, I know I do.

I have never meet Corey, but I am worried for people like him who think (or been told) the LGBTQ lifestyle is a safe alternative. Our culture says that it is, so must be right? Unfortunately reports like from the CDC do not paint the LGBTQ lifestyle in a good light. One report concludes that more than half of all new cases of HIV/AIDS, are from gay men alone. That does not count bisexuals, lesbians, nor transgender in that figure. Meaning the rate could be even higher.

The reason I am speaking about this is not to bash Corey or people who are in support and/or in the LGBTQ community, by no means. Everyone deserves to be respected and loved regardless of a person’s beliefs, lifestyle, and actions. However, truth can be controversial and even hated.
I post this to shed light on the consequence side of living such a lifestyle that is not talked about enough. Nothing is worse than being told something is safe, only to turn around and potentially get a disease that takes years off your life and there is no cure.

Disease is just one consequence. There is a lot of physical abuse in the LGBTQ community, prostitution, many promiscuous partners, depression, drugs, etc. I have had roommates and co-workers who have told me about these things and I was shocked, yet no one talks about it and it’s a tragedy. Last thing we want is Corey to be harmed or something far worse. Corey can ultimately do what he wants.

There is a real hope and solution for those who struggle with same sex attraction who no longer want to. That answer is Jesus Christ. Now Jesus Christ is not only for the LGBTQ community but for everyone, including myself and anyone reading this. I am a sinner and in need of God’s forgiveness and grace.

We all fall short of God’s standard but God being rich in mercy and love, sent His is only Son to die in our place on a cross for our sins. I will put two videos down below, one on ex-LGBTQ-er’s and another on what it means to be a Christian. I never thought I would post something like on a BMX website, haha. Life has consequences, whether good or bad. Life is summed up in our decisions. All of us will die one day, does not matter what you believe, what matters is did you believe the right thing? Death is the great equalizer, all of us must pass through it. Let us make the right decisions in life and help those make the right ones too out from a heart of love and kindness while speaking truth. I pray everyone looks at the two videos and is open minded to hearing another side of the argument and the message of the Gospel, which is also known as the “Good News.” Blessings!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Iq8ok84uBXc
What Must I Do To Be Saved? 4:46 minutes

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v--BuHXVA70
Former LGBTQers Testify: If You No Longer Want to Be Gay or Transgender, You Don't Have to Be 16:37 minutes

How on earth do you have the audacity to post such a disrespectful and religion based comment about a situation you clearly have no actually knowledge on.
The Christian faith is one of the leading examples of homophobia, the fact they have camps and “cures” to turn people straight is a absolutely disgraceful.
Your fact about homosexuals contracting HIV/ AIDS at a higher percentage is utter ballocks. And there is no reason in this day and age that someone with HIV or aids can not live a long a prosperous life. we have come a long way since the 1960’s where there was no cure, we can infact now make the disease dormant. Meaning you will not die from it, simply take a pill each morning to suppress the virus.

I wrote this reply to you, shaking out of anger and adrenaline. For someone to so openly and publicly come out and to be supported by their sponsors their family and friends is amazing and another step forward to accepting people for who the fuck they are.
It’s beliefs like your that cause the physical assault of the lgbtq+ community, it’s the thought process like yours and other that make it unsafe for people to come out and live the life they were always meant to lead.

Grow the fuck up, and as if you have posted links to YouTube videos about being turned straight or “being saved” you are a fucking moron and a unbelievably disrespectful human being.

Reading from a book that was written century’s ago does not give you a right to pave how the world should be today. Go back to your fairytale, keep your religion and your beliefs to yourself and simply fuck off.

Calling someone a moron and then calling someone a disrespectful human being in the same sentence? Too contradictory to support your comment. If being accepting is so important, try not bullying someone for a different point of view.

so in the name of tolerance, you want him to be accepting of intolerance?

Lol. It doesn’t work like that.

Replying to vitriol is not bullying. You don't understand bullying. To be bullying implies that the bullied is blameless in the situation. A venomous bastard being alled out is not bullying. Bullying was what Flatlandbro was doing towards gay people by saying those things. I bet you feel bullied by me now.

Hey man, since you care so much about people’s health, how does it feel to know that LGBTQI+ youth who’ve been put through conversion therapy are twice as likely to commit suicide as their peers? Ya fuckin kook

Thank you....this topic is old news.. kids in us have been doing this and dealing with hate for decades

This is the most trash thing I've ever read on this site. Framing queer identity as an inherent "risky lifestyle" because of AIDS is like saying being old is an inherent "risky lifestyle" because of COVID. You're a fucking dumbass. Delete yourself.

I was brought up in a religious household.. I can't express enough of how much more judgmental and hypocritical religious people are in general. The Bible maybe a book of history and I have read it several times over but that doesn't mean it's the tell-all say all for who we are today as people or individuals and our future and not to mention the fact that it has been passed down for centuries from people that have interpreted it wrong or for themselves for selfish purposes, power, greed, and control.. I do agree however that the lgbtq communtiy can be difficult for some people but that is not because of the things that you've mentioned it is because of the Judgment from family and friends that they receive which in turn can cause and push them to go do these things as far as prostitution and drug usage. But let's again not forget that there are still a lot of straight people that have depression, drug issues, and many straight men and women that are in prostitution and in child trafficking as well. So please understand being gay is not a choice and can be changed just cause you pray and read the bible.. why don't you try to be attracted to the same sex and see how you feel about it. Its the same for gay people when you tell them to pray to be attracted to the opposite sex.
Good for him to come out but yes lets focus on the riding.. And keep this comminuty as positive and un judgemental as possible.. Amen 🙏

God is a flying spaghetti monster , sorry to spoil it for you

No need to bash on religion man let people believe what they want. It doesn't affect you.

Pretending to be okay with something so you can bash the hell out of it and post your sick self-hating videos. I am talking to you Flatlandbro. Subhuman twat

By responding that way you're being as hateful as he is, I wish the responses would be elaborated in a much less hateful way. Do not fight fire with fire it's just going to cause more argument. You need to turn the other cheek and if you can't do that it's going end badly for everyone.

That is NOT as hateful as what flatlandbro said, grev here was making a good point, flatland is being a homophobic POS and disguising it under caring about people. he was punching down towards a minority, grev is not.

there is just one problem with your statement. being gay is something real. your invisible friend isn't.

It's sad that you try to shed light on the dangers of a specific lifestyle and use statistics to support it....but all you hear back is negativity. If someone doesn't agree with LGBT lifestyle they automatically close their mind and call you a racist or some sort of hater of their lifestyle whatever names they use. I have no problems whatsoever with their lifestyles and how they want to live them, but try to keep an open mind to people who have differing views because your views are not always correct, and neither are ours. That should definitely be recognized. I say this to prevent this post from continuous back and forth arguments which you guys know you can do all day till we're all dead. The best method is to find a solution so that we can either mind our own business or come together as a community (because this is just the beginning and you better be ready to accept all the humans on this earth)

Ah yes, we've found the enlightened centrist...

Whoever wrote this article, leave a video of him riding and don't let me search for it myself. I don't care if he is gay, I just want a video of him riding the hell out of anything. Most gays are tougher than normal dudes, because, it is really hard to coming out. And Corey just multiplied it by 100 times. Respect from my side. And it is no problem for a guy like me, who rides since approximately 2001. Actually, it should not be a topic.

I’ve been having this same conversation in multiple group chats for the last day or so. Glad you’ve put it so articulately. I’m stoked for, and super proud of Corey and overall pretty impressed with BMXs collective reaction to the news.

It definitely matters, and some people were saying that "its 2021 this shouldn't be an issue anymore" but the problem is that its a very big issue still that may not affect or impact them personally but it means so much more to someone else that may be dealing with insecurities or even fear of being who they are. While I would love for everyone to be open about who they are its just not the case right now and maybe one day we'll all get there.

If we continue to believe that the time is not now, it will continually be held back. Action should of been taken decades ago.

Good for Corey. And glad to see the BMX community be more about love than its normal judgmental-self.

Men’s BMX Racing is now the “final frontier” for coming out.

Ok, we know now, we don't mind, can we get back to riding...all this is going to do is stir up a bunch of unnecessary arguments that have taken place in the past. Anyone who decides to make a grand announcement about their sexuality is obviously looking for attention why I don't know but you don't see people in the prime of their careers saying just so everyone knows I'm straight I'm straight, and then getting a bunch of articles written about them. This s*** isn't for BMX right now it's people looking for trouble

No. It’s to encourage others who are having to live sheltered lives because they are afraid of being who they really are.
If we continue to just leave it as unspoken, how many other people will have to live there life hiding from reality, everyone in the past has had the same idea as you, you yourself may not be homophobic but by brushing the subject under the rug, nothing gets done. Nothing changes and people still have to hide who they are.

It’s utter bullshit. Times are changing but conversations need to go ahead to allow transition to happen.

FTR:. I'm not gay nor homophobic and I am a true believer in the right to choose who you are. But I do not think this was necessary as there are many gay riders out there and this puts them in an awkward position, you may think it opens doors but coming out is all about attention imo, and Corey just stole it all. And right after Bhis teammate brandon begin just dropped a fire edit. I'll be talking about that on here.

dude. you know NOTHING. I'm a young and very queer rider and i have to say, it is so amazing to see a rider as good as corey be gay and open about it. also, it is not a choice and he is in no way stealing anything from anyone. you seem very homophobic. it matters to kids like me, so this being talked about is amazing.

and coming out is not at all for attention. I cant be happy or be with the person i love until i come out. corey knows he can inspire and help other gay riders. you need to shut the fuck up if you are straight about lgbt issues, you cannot speak on OUR issues, and you cannot make decisions for us. now be quiet and get educated.

Please don't be so hostile towards someone for having a unique viewpoint. If this person came out as gay tomorrow you'd have to revoke your statements, kiss and make up. What if he gets "educated" as you put it? Would he then be able to make decisions for you? Would you not accept a free meal from him if you were starving? Such bold statements are worthless, when you are driving your point of view with anger.