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Interview with Brad Usselman, gay high school athlete and blogger

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Brad Usselman

Brad Usselman, a Vancouver high schooler, recently (along with two friends) started a blog that is aimed at altering perceptions of LGBTQ athletes. They describe themselves as,

…3 young adults wanting to change the way LGBTQ athletes are viewed in the sports world. All of us are varsity athletes in high school who are on our own paths to being who we truly are. We invite you to take the stand with us and begin walking the road to equality.

Brad, a sophomore, has been on his school’s varsity track and cross country teams since he was a freshman, and his goal is to run for a Division 1 college team. I recently conducted a short interview with him.

Aly Sneider: What specifically inspired you to start the blog?

BU: The thing that inspired me the most to start this blog is wanting to help out the younger generations and make sure that they do not go through the internal struggles of acceptance that I went through. I also wanted to start a community where gay high school athletes are able to go and realize they that they are not alone.

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Written by || Mon, Jan 24th 2011 at 03:27 PM || Tags: , , , , , , || Category: Jock || 2 comments - (Comments are closed)

Gay high school athletes share their experiences

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Openly gay athletes are few and far between, especially in the highest levels of competition. Thanks to small-mindedness and discrimination, we queer folks have been systematically discouraged from participating in athletics. The number of openly gay professional athletes in America can literally be counted on one hand.

Three Pacifc Northwest teenagers are looking to change the queer-athletic landscape by launching a blog devoted to discussing their lives as gay high school athletes. Outsports.com recently published a coming out letter written by one of the kids to his parents.This letter (and its posting on a public website), and the blog that is to follow, are remarkable in that they come from an athlete who is so young, especially given that when elite gay athletes do come out, it is generally after they have retired.At least one of these kids fully plans on continuing his athletic career at the Division 1 college level. The fact that he doesn’t see being openly gay as any sort of impediment to his goals is a sign that our culture is changing, at least in our corner of the country, slowly but surely, one athlete at a time.

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Written by || Tue, Jan 11th 2011 at 08:51 AM || Tags: , , , , , , , , || Category: Jock || Comments are closed