It was a year ago that right-wingers lost their minds over 2 male Minnesota Vikings cheerleaders
Blaize Shiek and Louie Conn joined the ranks of male NFL cheerleaders and one man did not like it one bit.
Mark
This story ran in 2025 and is being republished for the start of NFL training camps.
The Minnesota Vikings have joined the list of NFL teams employing male cheerleaders, with dancers Blaize Shiek and Louie Conn making their debut Saturday in the Vikings’ preseason home opener. It was much too much to bear for a host on the right-wing Infowars site.
“Imagine you buy front row season football tickets and when you sit down there’s some man girating right in front of you,” Owen Shroyer posted on X, misspelling “gyrating” in the process.
Someone get Shroyer to the fainting couch — men are dancing! His reaction reminds me of the famous Onion headline: “Why Do All These Homosexuals Keep Sucking My C*ck?”
It took X user Gator Gum to smack down Shroyer (who has 371,000 X followers and is a real piece of work) with the appropriate comment: “Yes, he’s blocking your view of the husky man in tights putting his hands between the legs of the other man in tights. Do you know they shower together after the games too? “
Get off the sidelines and into the game
Our weekly playbook is packed with everything from locker room chatter to pressing LGBTQ sports issues.
Subscribe to our Newsletter today
And there was this gem of a reply:
Related
Meet 18 male NFL cheerleaders on 7 different teams
There are more male NFL cheerleaders than ever before, with about a quarter of the league’s teams building gender-inclusive cheer squads.Football as a homoerotic ritual — are players really gay?
An academic paper years ago asked the question on many football fans’ minds about the homoerotic nature of America’s favorite sport.Gay Minnesota Vikings male cheerleaders back for Season 2
Blaize Shiek and Louie Conn will be cheering on the Vikings for a second season, a year after their appearance upset a right-wing influencer.
Male cheerleaders are common
The Vikings are a bit late to the party for hiring male cheerleaders, a trend the Los Angeles Rams started in the 2018 season (where they reached the Super Bowl).
Last season, seven teams had a total of 18 men on their cheer squads. Some are gay, some are bi, some are straight. The Carolina Panthers also had a trans cheerleader. I don’t know how Shiek and Conn of the Vikings identify since I haven’t asked, but male cheerleaders are so common that only someone with real insecurity issues would feel bothered by their presence. (Update: Both Shiek and Conn confirmed to Outsports that they are gay.)
I also am bothered by Shiek and Conn — by their agility, gracefulness, athleticism and ability to dance, let alone their great hair. How can I expect to focus on J.J. McCarthy throwing deep to Justin Jefferson when these two attractive dudes distract me?
One encouraging part of Shroyer’s lame post were the comments, which were overwhelmingly supportive of the two cheerleaders, with the general theme along the lines of: “He’s a male cheerleader. This is not new. Men can dance too. And even cook.” and “This impacts your life how?”
You can follow Blaize Shiek and Louie Conn on Instagram.
2026 update: Shiek and Conn are back for their second season with the Vikings.
Subscribe to the Outsports newsletter to keep up with your favorite out athletes, inspiring LGBTQ sports stories, and more.
