Anderson is so respected within his world, that by coming out, whether he wants to or not, he’s forcing the abject trolls who use homophobia to degrade and destroy others to question themselves. To question their unsustainable, uneducated, pathetic beliefs.

Why Aren’t There More Openly Gay Surfers?

Yes, these homophobes may – to borrow a phrase from the Leader Of The Free World – be on the wrong side of history, but they still exist, and they still make peoples lives genuinely miserable. Brian Anderson coming out sends a signal to the world that gay men aren’t weak. They aren’t effeminate. They aren’t somehow less than others. And this is why Brian Anderson coming out is a very, very good thing.

But it’s also shit. It’s shameful for all involved in this usually brilliant bubble of action sports, that in 2016 it’s still headline news that somebody is gay. That being gay is still such a taboo, still so frowned upon, that it’s taken 40 years for a man as warrior-like as Anderson to want to be able to tell the world.

By now, telling somebody your gay should hold the same significance as telling them that you’re left handed, or that you don’t like shellfish, or sharing your belief that the music of James Arthur should still be boycotted irrespective of how many times he apologises.