In an interview with VICE Sports,
professional skateboarder Brian Anderson revealed publicly for the
first time that he's gay.
The 40-year-old Anderson won the World
Cup of Skateboarding title in Dortmund, Germany in 1999. The same
year, he won Thrasher's Skater of the Year award.
A few minutes into the 26-minute
VICE Sports special, Anderson says: “My name is Brian Anderson.
I'm a professional skateboarder. And we are here to talk about the
fact that I am gay.”
“I never thought I would sit here and
talk about being gay on camera, but I wanted to,” Anderson said.
He said that he wanted to show LGBT
youth who are struggling with their sexuality that it gets better.
“I think about how I felt when I was
younger – totally scared. A lot of these kids don’t have hope. …
To hear what I went through and how everything got better for me and
how I felt a lot happier and felt more free and didn’t have all
this shame buried inside my body…to convey that message was really
important to me,” he added.