QUOTES from the film

• ‘The precedent that’s been set is that if you are gay or we think you’re gay then you’re out and that social coercion is the most powerful coercion that exists in the surfing world.’ – Cori Schumacher
• ‘You know I know fundamentally like nothing’s wrong with me but I felt like there was something wrong with me my whole life and that was the most damaging point. And if there wasn’t the stigma and all the negativity surrounding homosexuality I think that you could spare a lot of pain and grief and struggle.’ – Riley Herman
• ‘From ever since I was a kid, societal views on homosexuality are just completely taboo. Peers, like when we were young, were taught that weakness is not really an option. It’s kind of like a violation of masculinity, so to speak, and I just didn’t feel like it was a safe place for me to go.’ – Jesse Jimenez
• ‘I always knew I was gay from when I was a kid but it was too scary to come out because I was from such a conservative family. I didn’t know anyone who was gay. Yeah, my dad used to talk about poofter bashing and stuff.’ – Milly Hyde
• ‘I had a cousin who committed suicide and when I came out to my mum, she told me that he was gay and I was like wow.’ Krista Coppedge
• ‘It was tough in the beginning. Like, I felt I had to hide who I was and stuff. My nickname was Gay Jim.’ – Jim Ready
• ‘Well I mean, it’s just a space you have to claim for yourself and your gender.’ – Nell Schofield
• ‘I don’t have that much hope for acceptance. I don’t think that human beings should succumb to whether or not they’re accepted but that we should just be who we are.’  – Jonathan Louie
• ‘Tolerance says that you’ve got this dominant group and they’re going to put up with this marginal group. I think that there should be an appreciation and effort to understand where other people are coming from. Tolerance doesn’t suggest dialogue whatsoever. It keeps a classic hierarchy in place and you want to ditch the hierarchy.’ – Dr Clifton Evers
• ‘I think that ignorance is most probably the main thing.’ – Barton Lynch
• ‘Sometimes I’ve had people say, “Oh, you don’t seem gay.’” – Riley Herman
• ‘Surfing culture is not separate to the broader culture and there’s widespread homophobia and bullying. Surfing developed particularly primarily in Australia around these groups of me going on surf trips hunting the waves, going surfing together. That’s not to say women weren’t involved but they were marginalised, they were pushed to the margins of these groups. And one of the things that happens when you get these groups of guys bonding like that is that you will get this sort of homophobia come out because you somehow have to sort of draw a line between this cannot be interpreted as homoerotic. So you either objectify women and that leads to this sexism or you work on the premise that we must prove our heterosexuality.’ – Dr Clifton Evers
• ‘I’m one of the best surfers in my country and I’m gay. I never came out and I don’t plan on it. But I heard about this film and I thought people would say, “Gay people whining again. If they didn’t go on about it so much there wouldn’t be so much hate against them.” But they’re wrong and missing the point. It’s been made so young people who are in the closet will feel it’s ok to be gay. Surfing’s a macho sport. It’s about respect in and out of the water. I think a lot of gay surfers feel that being gay makes you less of a man and people will judge you. Maybe that’s not the case as long as you charge. I think it’s time someone made a surf film about this. It might help people come to terms with their sexuality in the surf world. I know for me, it would have made growing up and travelling with surf teams and accepting myself a lot easier.’ – A letter from an anonymous surfer (later in the film identified as Craig Butler)
• ‘I don’t think surfing is that overt about its homophobia, I think that there’s just this general understanding that, you know, if you’re gay cool but just don’t tell anyone about it.’ – Fred Pawle