Naked rowers break record fundraising against homophobia

Warwick Rowing has raised over £35,000 in their campaign against bullying and homophobia in sports and schools – over seven times their original £5,000 target.

In their efforts to tackle prejudicial bullying and homophobia, the rowing team gained the support of former Warwick rower, two-time Olympian and World medalist Tom Solesbury.

Other high-profile figures in the media also showed their support for the rowers on twitter. These included Gok Wan, Stephen Fry and Boy George.

Olympian Tom Solesbury said: “I rowed for Warwick and am delighted to see my old club doing such great work for charity and for young people.

“… I think what they’re doing is very brave. I’ve faced many challenges in my Olympic career, but I have to take my hat off to the [rowers] for this.

“The calendar has become very popular with the gay community, and the [rowers] have embraced that… They’ve learned of how many have struggled to come to terms with their sexuality.”

Laurence Hulse, chief calendar organiser, said: “The calendar has always had a lot of support from the gay community, so last year we decided to put something back by supporting Ben Cohen’s anti-homophobia work.

“The response to this was so amazing that we’ve decided to do our own work now…

“We recently helped to launch the UK’s first dedicated sports space for the LGBT community at the Birmingham LGBT Centre… Closer to home, we’ve also been invited to join the first ever Warwickshire Pride in Leamington.

“It’s already proved to be a fascinating and rewarding journey for all of us involved and, having seen and read how some people’s lives have been so deeply affected by bullying and particularly homophobic bullying in adolescence, we are all very excited about doing more.

“The Crowdfunder success will definitely help with that, and we are now discussing the possibility of creating viral content to drive traffic to a national helpline for young LGBT people.”

Calendar photographer Angus Malcolm said in an interview with So So Gay: “They love [the huge gay fan base]…the [rowers’] attitude is that all attention is an affirmation! And it’s gone beyond a simple ‘it’s ok to look’.

“When the [rowers] decided to support the Ben Cohen Foundation last year to combat bullying and homophobia in sport, the response from the gay community made a huge impression on them.

“They were hearing stories from people all over the world about… how much difference it would have made to have had a group of straight university jocks telling them it was OK to be gay. That was when the [rowers] really committed to offering themselves as straight allies to the gay community.

“It’s not just about recognising the support they’ve had from the gay community… it’s about doing whatever they can in support of a group of people they have come to know and respect.”

Apart from fundraising, Warwick Rowing will be actively involved in an outreach program which will see them going into schools to promote sports and inclusion. They also plan to make a series of videos to encourage young people to call a national helpline.