22 Photos That Prove the Warwick Rowers Slayed 2017

Chances are, if you’re queer and even remotely interested in sports or have ever had the displeasure of being forced into physical education, you’ve experienced some homophobia. Whether it was from that guy who hated himself for checking you out, that other guy whose issues with his masculinity caused him to lash out, or even the token nice guy who was peer-pressured into putting you down, it’s probably happened. And it’s got to stop.

Cut to the Warwick Rowers, a group of young, hot, and talented English rowers who made battling homophobia in sports their cause. They fund the charity Sports Allies, which has as its aim the promotion of sports for the purpose of inclusion and support of traditionally excluded identities.

Unfortunately, for a short period, the video of their 2017 calendar shoot was banned from YouTube after being labeled as pornography.

Producer and photographer Angus Malcolm released a statement about YouTube’s actions, including testimonies from the rowers themselves. “Bizarrely, Google were a lot more relaxed only a few days ago when the Warwick Rowers reported that a Google user was illegally sharing their charity fundraising content. Google twice rejected the Warwick Rowers appeal for help, before shutting up shop for the weekend with the content still available, and did not manage to respond effectively until after the rowers threatened legal action against the corporation. ‘And these are the guys who promise to do no evil,’ commented one rower, saddened at seeing their hard work for charity being undermined by the massive corporation. ‘That’s not been our experience at all.'”

While the ban is indicative of a total double standard, given all the bare skin heteronormative media sites upload and profit from on a daily basis, Youtube eventually consented to host the video, and you should be able to watch all the bum and biceps your heart desires.

The group is poised to release a report that inquiries into homophobic activity in the U.K., and before its release, one of its spokespersons commented on the rise of homophobia in the post-Brexit climate. “There has been a 147 percent increase in homophobic attacks post-Brexit, and it seems likely the Trump vote will amplify this globally. Never before has the LGBT community had greater need of its straight allies to assert that the battle for LGBT rights comes not from self-interest but from a belief in justice.”

While we think the LGBT community could always have used its straight allies, we’re with the Rowers on this one. Pick up a copy of the Warwick Rowers 2017 calendar here.