THE LGBTQ+ WAVE

Surf culture has a long history of marginalizing the LGBTQ+ community, but a new generation of queer surfers is working to change that

- TODD PRODANOVICH

ARTIST STEPHEN MILNER IS LAUGHING NERVOUSLY AS WE LOOK UPON HIS LATEST CREATION. WE’RE MASKED UP IN TYPICAL PANDEMIC FASHION, STANDING IN A HOT SAN DIEGO GARAGE THAT’S SERVED AS MILNER’S STUDIO THIS SUMMER.

I’d imagine the nervous laughter is a regular occurrence for the 29-year-old, given the provocative nature of his work, which explores themes like queer identity and toxic masculinity in a world not known to do so—the surf world.

Between us sits a large sheet of plywood resting on a pair of sawhorses. The wood’s surface is printed with a very-Instagrammable beach scene, the golden rays of a setting sun dancing off the surface of the water. Where the sun should be, however, Milner’s cut a circle out of the wood and replaced it with, well, a glory hole.

“I’m thinking I’ll probably write ‘locals only’ on it,” Milner says, surely smirking under his mask.

By the time you read this, the installation likely will have gone up (and been torn down in a moral panic, if we’re being honest) along some of surfing’s most hallowed ground—the Malibu wall.

Subtlety, as you might have deduced by now, isn’t really Milner’s thing. He’s a natural-born shit-stirrer, and a talented one at that, specializing in this kind of mischievous dance with cultural critique and tongue-in-cheek.