Sports & Activities
The Big Gay Wilderness
Photo Credit: Courtesy of Mike Boisvert
Tell us about the activities your organization offers. Which are the most popular? Which are the least?
We offer a full range of activities, including hiking, city outings, backpacking, camping, mountain biking, road biking, river and sea kayaking, river tubing, downhill skiing/snowboarding, cross-country skiing, snowshoeing, rock/ice climbing, mountaineering, and nude swimming-hole excursions. Hiking, kayaking and cross-country skiing are probably our most popular. Rock/ice climbing and mountaineering having the least amount of interest. One of our most popular activities is our annual GO Gathering, where we take over a section in a campground and spend the weekend hiking, swimming, tubing, sharing meals, drinking near a campfire, etc. People from all over the East Coast attend.
What can people expect on these outings?
Generally, folks will meet down-to-earth people who are quick to help one another out. Everyone works as a team to complete the activity and someone always has an extra jacket or food if someone forgets something. There is a lot of laughter and joking around— and no sex in the bushes. [Laughs.] We sometimes get into heated discussions about world affairs. I think the outdoor environment, clean air, beautiful scenery, and so on bring out the best in people.
Why a gay outdoors organization? Why not just join a mainstream group?
Mainstream outdoor organizations are certainly more welcoming to gay folks than they were in the past, but many gay people are still guarded as to what they can say and do in these organizations. Outdoor activities are very social and provide opportunities for participants to talk about different topics during the outing. So in a gay outdoors organization we can comment about the cute guy walking by, discuss our dating successes and failures, and issue such as gay marriage—topics that a mainstream group wouldn't necessarily be interested in. It's important to foster an environment where we can be who they really are. GayOutdoors provides that. And if you wanted to meet a boyfriend with outdoor interests, it would be difficult to do so in a mainstream group.
We offer a full range of activities, including hiking, city outings, backpacking, camping, mountain biking, road biking, river and sea kayaking, river tubing, downhill skiing/snowboarding, cross-country skiing, snowshoeing, rock/ice climbing, mountaineering, and nude swimming-hole excursions. Hiking, kayaking and cross-country skiing are probably our most popular. Rock/ice climbing and mountaineering having the least amount of interest. One of our most popular activities is our annual GO Gathering, where we take over a section in a campground and spend the weekend hiking, swimming, tubing, sharing meals, drinking near a campfire, etc. People from all over the East Coast attend.
What can people expect on these outings?
Generally, folks will meet down-to-earth people who are quick to help one another out. Everyone works as a team to complete the activity and someone always has an extra jacket or food if someone forgets something. There is a lot of laughter and joking around— and no sex in the bushes. [Laughs.] We sometimes get into heated discussions about world affairs. I think the outdoor environment, clean air, beautiful scenery, and so on bring out the best in people.
Why a gay outdoors organization? Why not just join a mainstream group?
Mainstream outdoor organizations are certainly more welcoming to gay folks than they were in the past, but many gay people are still guarded as to what they can say and do in these organizations. Outdoor activities are very social and provide opportunities for participants to talk about different topics during the outing. So in a gay outdoors organization we can comment about the cute guy walking by, discuss our dating successes and failures, and issue such as gay marriage—topics that a mainstream group wouldn't necessarily be interested in. It's important to foster an environment where we can be who they really are. GayOutdoors provides that. And if you wanted to meet a boyfriend with outdoor interests, it would be difficult to do so in a mainstream group.
