For many queer people, it’s hard to find spaces where we feel like we can thrive and be ourselves. Many of us find pride in nightlife; others meet fellow LGBTQ people through gay sports leagues, an opportunity to find chosen family while playing kickball or water polo. So the recently blossoming cottage industry of gay surf communities marks another, much-needed space that allows queer people to be their authentic selves—while also getting trained in a sport they might have long been interested in but never felt like they could be a part of.

It’s still early days for the LGBTQ surf world, but visible communities of queer surfers have begun to bubble up in recent years, spaces welcoming everyone from longtime thrill-seekers who’ve felt the need to keep their sexuality under wraps to those seeking the joy of riding a wave for the first time in their lives.

South Brazil native Marta Dalla Chiesa is just one advocate spearheading this changing current. She and her partner Lesley Cushing co-own Brazil Ecojourneys, a tour operator based out of Florianopolis dedicated to sustainable tourism. One of their most buzzed-about packages is called, simply, Gay Surf Brazil; it’s a weeklong retreat that connects LGBTQ+ people interested in surfing while also helping to fight homophobia in surfing by simply existing within the space. It was started in 2013, originally in partnership with Thomas Castets, the founder of the social network GaySurfers.net and producer of Out in the Line-up, a documentary about what it’s like to be gay in the world of surfing.

“I had never realized the extent of homophobia in surfing,” Dalla Chiesa says “I always had the impression surfers are so chill, that they wouldn't be bothered about this. When Thomas called me and talked about his film, you see how homophobic [things can be], especially at the professional level. In the States or Australia, I think the homophobia is there even if it's subdued.”

Out in the Line-up offers a sweeping overview of the challenges that gay surfers around the world have faced, including finding kinship with people like themselves—a common struggle in the LGBTQ community—and a lack of sponsorships as out gay surfers at the professional level. In a 2014 interview with The Guardian, Castets explained surfing’s deep-rooted homophobia in more depth.

“Surfing is, unfortunately, primarily a male-dominated sport. And when you have all these men traveling together, hunting for waves, there is an element to the psychology that is about making sure there is no ambiguity between the men,” he said. “To prove your heterosexuality, you need to prove your skills in the water. There have never really been any gay surfers out there, so I would just call that ignorance and a lack of visibility.”

Pop culture has certainly helped perpetuate the mass ideas about what a “typical” surfer is supposed to look like. The Endless Summer might be from the ‘60s, but it’s still one of the most iconic surfer films around, featuring two tanned, ripped bros carrying around surfboards in search of the perfect wave. Marketing for popular surfer brands also continue to be heteronormative, reinforcing archaic gender roles—Billabong landed in hot water back in 2017 for an ad that many called sexist because while it showed a male surfer shredding waves, the female was featured posing sensually on the beach in a bikini with no surfboard in sight.

Over the past few years hosting Gay Surf Brazil, Dalla Chiesa has heard stories from people who didn’t feel comfortable diving into the sport because of its “macho culture.” Things like “I always wanted to surf, but I didn't have the courage because I'm a bit effeminate” or “I would feel bad surfing around macho surfers that might look at me funny,” she says. One year, she met a young man from Rio who’d grown up by the sea but didn’t feel comfortable enough to try surfing until he was with a school of other queer people who supported him. This reassuring environment has proved to be vital in not only everyone’s experience throughout the week, but also having people come back for another go.