‘Where I was meant to be.’ Vikings male cheerleader shares his dream as a boy.
Louie Conn's photo from his childhood shows the power of NFL dreams coming true for cheerleaders like himself. The post ‘Where I was meant to be.’ Vikings male cheerleader shares his dream as a boy. appeared first on Outsports.
Mark
When Louie Conn and Blaize Shiek auditioned for the Minnesota Vikings cheerleading squad, they probably didn’t think that they would become the main story on Newsmax, Outkick or the National Review.
You know, your go-to sources for NFL coverage.
At this point in the news cycle about the two male cheerleaders, we’ve had wall to wall analysis of what this means about the state of traditional masculinity in America, pleas for somebody to THINK OF THE CHILDREN, and outcry about those darn gays gaying up sports with their gayness.
This despite the fact that we don’t know Conn or Shiek’s orientation and neither of them has discussed that topic publicly.
The one thing that’s missing from every outraged clickbait article about the pair is any acknowledgement of their humanity. Or a sense that these are two real people who have found themselves caught up in our endless culture wars simply because they’re really good at what they do.
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
All of that was brought home when Conn posted a photo from his childhood to his Instagram account on Tuesday.
Related
Ben Shapiro is the latest anti-gay whiner to cry right-wing tears over NFL male cheerleaders
Ben Shapiro is crying right-wing tears over the Minnesota Vikings having male cheerleaders. Welcome to the NFL, guuuuurlllll…Liars! Vikings fans claimed to cancel season tickets due to male cheerleaders. Not one did.
The reality is that there is great demand for Minnesota Vikings tickets and only an idiot would cancel them over male cheerleaders.
In the post, young Conn is doing a remarkably fierce imitation of the splits with one hand on his hip and the other thrust in the air in the traditional cheerleading gesture of “We’re No. 1!”
Conn captioned it, “I’m right where I was meant to be” with two hearts in Vikings purple and gold.
As his post made clear, Conn didn’t try out for the Vikings cheerleading team to make some grand statement about what it means to be a man in America or to turn Ben Shapiro into The Daily Wire’s choreography critic.
Being a cheerleader was his dream from the time he was a little kid.
While many of his peers were hoping to put on shoulder pads and suit up for the NFL, Conn wanted to be one of the people cheering them on from the sidelines.
The NFL is a much more interesting and fulfilling league when it has room for people who dream like Conn and people who dream like J.J. McCarthy.
When Conn made the Vikings cheerleading squad, it was every bit as worthy of celebration and validation as when McCarthy was drafted.
For each of them, those moments represented a little kid’s professional hopes coming true. Last I checked, that was supposed to be a good thing.
If football only had room for the type of man who wants to be on the gridiron and shut out people like Conn and Shiek, it would become just another playground for homogenous dullards who fly into a rage when sports don’t conform to their narrow worldview.
At some point, the outrage machine will move on to its next flavor of the week and this furor will go away. The Vikings will also begin the regular season and Minnesota fans will focus on how their team will let them down on the field this year.
Once the media circus finds other things to focus on, Conn and Shiek will still be there leading the “Skol Vikings” chant from the sidelines.
They’ll be two guys on the cheerleading squad whose dreams came true. The way it should be.
Subscribe to the Outsports newsletter to keep up with your favorite out athletes, inspiring LGBTQ sports stories, and more.
The post ‘Where I was meant to be.’ Vikings male cheerleader shares his dream as a boy. appeared first on Outsports.
