Liam Moya is a member of the Battlinâ Bears Alpine Ski Team at Rocky Mountain College in Billings, Montana. Heâs also a passionate sports photographer. In a new post published by Outsports, he writes about how coming out as a gay sports photographer was actually harder for him than coming out as a gay skier.
âAs an alpine ski racer at Rocky Mountain College in Billings, Montana, I am very comfortable being gay,â 23-year-old Moya says. âEven in high school, being a gay skier was never an issue.â
âBut it was my own internalized fears that nearly caused me to give up another passion of mine,â he continues. âSports photography.â
Related:Â Out rugby star Keegan Hirst says he knows tons of gay athletes who are primed to come out
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Skiing, Moya explains, is a relatively solitary sport. Itâs just him and the slops. But sports photography requires interacting with lots of other people and putting himself in situations where they might be people who arenât OK with his sexuality.
âI was especially afraid of the football players,â he says. âThey 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.â
Moya explains:
There is the image that society creates about football players being the alpha males of high school and I bought into that image. Theyâre the guys you donât want to mess with. You donât want to talk to their girlfriends, and you donât look them in the eye. You donât talk to them unless they talk to you first. I never really communicated with them.
His biggest fear was that the players would learn he was gay and think he was âstalking themâ or âbeing creepy.â
Eventually that fear, which Moya admits now was completely irrational, drove him to quit sports photography. He announced on Facebook that he would no longer be taking pictures at sporting events.
Related:Â The short film âWonderkidâ explores the challenges of being a gay professional athlete
A short while after that, he posted another Facebook message. This time, he decided to come out publicly, which was something he had never really done. Almost immediately, he received an outpouring of support.
He recalls:
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 doesnât matter what other people think as long as I am happy. He personally admired my coming out.
The whole thing made him realize that his fears had been totally unwarranted and based on stereotypes he held about athletes.
âHaving preconceptions about others is not fair,â Moya writes. âItâs hypocritical to be afraid to be who you are around people because you assume they are going to disrespect you, bully you, or think the worst of you.â
âDonât generalize about a group of people based on popular belief or media.â
Today, Moya is back taking pictures. He shoots all his collegeâs football, basketball, volleyball, and soccer games, and heâs made a lot of great friends along the way.
Check out some shots from Moyaâs Instagram pageâŚ
Kangol
Thanks for this positive story about coming and being out. I’m glad Liam Moya decided to resume taking photos, and I hope he has a successful time at college and in his future pursuits.
crowebobby
I would love to believe this is the new attitude of jocks towards gays, but I’m finding it hard to. Probably because I went to school in the 50’s.
Jaxton
Football players are among the most open-minded people out there.
Danny595
Yes! More stories like this, about normal, healthy gay guys, please!
Luvstoread
Just him and the slops. Too funny!! Who edits this stuff?? đ