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BOBBATH

Gay Speedway Riders

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This forum is getting pretty boring, so I thought I would start this topic. Discussion of people's sexuality is now much more open-in the 50's and 60's there were a number of riders who in retrospect were likely gay(not that there is anything wrong with that!!-for you Seinfeld fans). I know of at least one 1960's gay rider who committed suicide and I always wondered if being gay and the pressures that that caused had anything to do with it-it must have been tough for this lad who was a real gentleman and has been mentioned elsewhere on this forum in another context. Any thoughts on this matter from forumland.

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Guest Simpson Bandit
This forum is getting pretty boring, so I thought I would start this topic. Discussion of people's sexuality is now much more open-in the 50's and 60's there were a number of riders who in retrospect were likely gay(not that there is anything wrong with that!!-for you Seinfeld fans). I know of at least one 1960's gay rider who committed suicide and I always wondered if being gay and the pressures that that caused had anything to do with it-it must have been tough for this lad who was a real gentleman and has been mentioned elsewhere on this forum in another context. Any thoughts on this matter from forumland.

 

This kind of discussion is much more open today largely because in the 50s, and most of the 60s in the UK, homosexuality was illegal, so that's why no-one talked about it.

 

I'm sure there were homosexual speedway riders from day one, just like there are homosexual xxxx (insert any other profession or job/walk of life) but what difference does it make in the overall scheme of things?

 

Are you prepared to name the rider who committed suicide because of his sexuality?

 

Or, more to the point, are you setting yourself up as a homophobic speedway fan, or a gay speedway fan who thinks the sport is basically homophobic?

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I know of at least one 1960's gay rider who committed suicide and I always wondered if being gay and the pressures that that caused had anything to do with it-it must have been tough for this lad who was a real gentleman and has been mentioned elsewhere on this forum in another context. Any thoughts on this matter from forumland.

 

As he took his own life some 7 years after retiring, i'd be surprised if the fact he rode Speedway was a contributory factor.

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Neither really simpson bandit-I'm neither gay nor homophobic-just thought posts to this forum were getting less and less and wondered where this would go if anywhere-perhaps not. Wonder if frigbo is thinking of the same person-a name usually associated with Sheffield in the 60's. Are we thinking of the same person frigbo?

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alot of riders are ,because they like coming from behind!!

And that, BOBBATH, is, I'm afraid, the inevitable result of starting a thread like this.

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To be honest I know the name of the rider who this thread has refered to, and to be honest I don't think it matters whether a rider is gay or not, has nothing to do with anybody other than themsleves.

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I seem to remember a thread like this a while ago, did it not get quite nasty as one of our fellow forum members actually came out and told us they were gay and they got quite a bad response from some.

 

Does it really matter if someone is gay it's up to them isn't it?

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Not very well disguised - those hints. Sussed out immediately who you meant.

 

I think it would be a good thing if a rider was openly gay as it would break down a barrier that exists. People say it doesn't matter, but to a lot of gay people it probably does. To have a gay role model would be both good for them and for the sport as it wou. ld probably publicise it to a whole new community.

 

Unfortunately, you only have to look at the type of abuse that gets posted whenever such a topic is brought up to understand any rider's reluctance to do so.

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Every rider I have been told is a shirt lifter, I have spotted soon after holding hands with a stunning woman!!!

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OK OK sorry I raised it(no pun intended)!!

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I don't really care if a speedway rider is gay, straight or bi-sexual. It's got chuff all to do with us if he is, and if they want to "come out" then that's totally their decision.

 

All I care about is that they give 100% committment to their club and their fans, and that they acknowledge us from time to time.

 

And to be honest, I don't think the use of derogatory terms for gay men on this thread is particularly helpful either. Is it any wonder that sportsmen (not just speedway riders) don't "come out" given the response they would get? And yes, I know not all speedway fans and posters on the BSF are homophobic, but there will be enough of them to make it difficult.

 

The unnamed speedway rider who committed suicide isn't alone - Justin Fashanau was a football player who couldn't cope when his lifestyle was discovered. His family are probaby still feeling the repercussions.

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Bobbin' along, I agree and did not start this thread facetiously-I seriously wondered whether discussing it could have added some background to the sixties e.g. one person helping out another because of their shared experience, one rider mentoring another etc etc. I was thinking particularly of one older rider who helped develop a future World Finalist as a young person and that got me thinking. By the way most people have figured out the un named rider from Sheffield I suspect, he always looked glum in team photos -never smiled poor guy and I wondered if he had been picked on for his orientation

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