“Growing up I always thought sports weren’t for me - the culture of it all just seemed like the peak of toxic masculinity, misogyny, homophobia etc. Realizing there was a whole community of people like me who were involved in watching or playing sports was exciting but sad. I spent my whole life going out of my way to not enjoy something just to find out there was a place for me. That it can be a fun environment that brings people together for a reason. I feel like I lost years that I could have spent enjoying this.”

“Being a female sports fan means experiencing misogyny basically every time I want to interact with the thing I enjoy. Whether it's the comments section on a highlight video or a guy in a bar, the digs at women are everywhere. I remember seeing a video of a female employee of a sports team talking about the engineering behind athletic equipment. She was wearing chinos and a polo, and the top few dozen comments were about her body. Every time a female athletes accomplishment is mentioned, someone finds the need to remind everyone that they wouldn't have beat hypothetical male competitors, even though no one had said anything about it in the first place. Imagine if women felt the need to remind men that Usain Bolt would be outrun by a Cheetah, when we know that sports is about beating those you're competing against, not some hypothetical.

I've found it incredibly frustrating to realize just how many male sports fans see female athletes as a joke despite them putting just as much work in and performing at the top of their game to beat their competitors, just like male athletes. Most would rather watch a mediocre male athlete or team than a woman at the top of their sport or pioneering and innovating it. And as an athlete or a fan, constantly you're reminded that sexist men would prefer you sit down, shut up, and look pretty. Unless it means working out to get a better body, then maybe they can tolerate it.”

hiii… ive really been slacking with submissions recently but also have not gotten that many more so. Forgive Me.

i think the photos with the text look better on insta and the formatting ends up wonky on tumblr, so from now on i’m gonna just be uploading the text here, but if you want the graphics just check the instagram page!

Reminder that this project is still ongoing!

If you’re someone who has been negatively impacted by the culture in either sports you’re in or have been a fan of, fill out this anonymous survey about your experience here.

It doesn’t have to be super formal, you can feel free to use this as an anonymous venting spot!

“I always knew I was queer, and developed a mindset that sports were something for bro straight culture. I was weird and gay and liked weird and gay things, I played a couple of sports as a means to be more social when I was young, but I never loved them. Then, at 15, I discovered my love for hockey through the content of other queer people. There was this huge community that I never even knew about, whether they played the sport or not it brought together more people like me than I could possibly imagine. I never understood how much of my perspective was skewed by the culture. Sports are fun! There are so many queer people in sports everywhere! I know tons of people now who either grew up playing/watching or fell in love with it later, and most of my good friends are also queer/bipoc disabled etc. fans. I've never truly felt a part of something before I discovered hockey. There's a reason people love the comradery of it all.

To see people from my communities repeatedly left out of the chance to be involved in something like this is heartbreaking. The discontinuation of specialty warmup jerseys and now specifically pride tape because of a few unsupportive players absolutely gutted me. It's not a distraction to support queer people. It shouldn't be polarizing. Seeing who wore pride gear was so important to me, everyone celebrated seeing their favorite players wearing it, it was encouraging to know that the people we've poured unbelievable amounts of time cheering for and in some cases a ton of money to go see, also supported us. If somebody didn't agree with something about you that was so integral to your identity, wouldn't you rather know? Queerness in sport has brought me so much joy, and I only pray that some of these rules are changed to bring that back for future generations, to show them they DO belong here.

There are more queer people in sports than you could possibly know.”

“I'm a queer fan of the Seattle Thunderbirds, a junior hockey team in the Western Hockey League. Last season, they had Luke Prokop in their lineup, the only out gay player ever under an NHL contract. I don't live close to the team and thought that I would never be able to see him play live—but they were playing in Kamloops, BC, and I started to think maybe I could swing it. For Luke Prokop. Just to prove to myself that we exist in these rinks and locker rooms and arena seats. So in a crazy leap of faith at midnight I dug out my debit card and my laptop, and I booked game tickets, a hotel, and a seat on a long-haul bus. I'd never gone on a trip like this, or agonized like I did then over what the environment would be like when I got there. I needn't have worried. Yes, I walked into the Sandman Centre a fan of the opposing team. Yes, I had to psych myself up the entire trip by pretending to be a German tourist named Clothilde. But I settled in my seat behind the Thunderbirds bench and saw Luke skate up, just as I sat down. I don't think he noticed me, but it meant so much in that moment that there we were: two queer people on opposite sides of the glass, taking our places in a hockey arena. It was one of the most emotional moments of my life as a hockey fan and I'll never forget that experience of solidarity I felt just in his presence and the courage he gave me to go on an adventure I had been too scared to ever consider before.”

“Disabled queer who tried so hard to be in sports growing up, but teachers wouldn't adapt anything to me. I did basketball growing up, but couldn't really keep up/got tired too quickly. Tried doing track, couldn't keep up/got too tired too fast and couldn't do the rigorous training. Tried shotput from track, described how my shoulder would pop every time I threw the ball, teacher sent me back to track. Had to drop out. Wanted to do ballet, and there are even some bedbound and wheelchair using ballerinas, but there are very few offering free adaptive/adapted courses+people can be... Frustratingly rude about it. My EDS might also make ballet tough even if I did pursue it and pushed myself past my breaking point (I will not be doing this) as it is a degenerative disorder, though many ballerinas with EDS often get unfortunate praise for their disability and how their body bends wrong so easily.”

Need to get it finalized and for sure approved first, but tentative (first) date for the paint part of the project is Halloween!! If you’re based around the area and want to participate, I will be posting details about this on the insta page once everything is fully figured out.

Thank you to everyone who has contributed so far!!! I will try to get submissions posted probably once or twice a week, most likely Saturdays and maybe (after this first week) Tuesdays, depending on how many there are! I really appreciate the interest in this project and all your help <3

So far there is no time limit on this, I will try to keep it going for as long as I am able and people are interested. I will keep you all updated if/when that changes!

Hello! This is Icing In: a project by and for underrepresented athletes and sports fans.

Please read about what this project entails and it's mission below before proceeding!

If you are someone who has struggled in sports community as a member of a marginalized group, please fill out this survey here if you are comfortable.

The results of this will be uploaded here, as well as on our Instagram (icing.in). There is also a carrd, and for any inquiries you can dm/send an ask to any of these socials, or shoot an email to [email protected] !

Feel absolutely encouraged to share this project on any other platform, amongst your friends, or wherever else applicable.

Thank you!