| 148 |
IS FITNESS A REQUIREMENT TO BE QUEER?
“HE SAID, ‘I ONLY DATE MEN WITH ABS,’ BUT ALL I DID WAS SAY HELLO.”
Written By: Shawn Kobetz
Photographer: Flaminia Fanale
“HE WASN’T SKINNY ENOUGH.”
“THERE IS THIS EXPECTATION AS A GAY MAN TO BE FIT.”
“SHE TOLD ME I’M TOO MUSCULAR FOR A WOMAN.” “I DIDN’T GO TO THE GYM BECAUSE I DIDN’T FEEL COMFORTABLE USING THE LOCKER ROOM OF MY CHOICE.”
“SOCIAL MEDIA SCROLLING, THAT MAKES ME FEEL LIKE GARBAGE.” “I REDUCED MY CALORIC INTAKE TO UNDER 1,000 CALORIES A DAY BECAUSE YOU CAN’T BE GAY AND FAT.”
“I FEEL THIS PRESSURE EVERYDAY I LOOK IN THE MIRROR.”
Model: Lewis Mcnairy
These experiences and thoughts are all true, unnecessary, and happen way too often. Fitness is supposed to be this incredible world for people to experience. Running, weight lifting, cycling classes, yoga: all things that should increase our endorphins, and make us happier and healthier people. But did we allow that to stop? Instead of looking good and feeling better, did we succumb to the pressures that society created with magazine covers and social media influencers? And did we allow that to happen within our LGBTQIA+ community, a community that should be filled with love and acceptance? Did we make fitness a requirement to be gay?
About ten years ago, I was unhappy, in the closet and not physically active. My mother told me to try a cycling class at the Equinox in Woodbury, NY. I went, not sure what to expect, and although my legs were burning, my butt was sore and I was drenched in sweat, I was hooked. Ten years, a handful of fitness centers, fad diets, and hundreds of dollars spent on the latest and greatest workout gear, I am still just as hooked. In fact, I am now a certified cycling instructor at Equinox, so I guess my mom was right when she told me I would love it.