Canceled for Asking the Wrong Questions: Is Fear Hurting LGBTQ+ Wrestling?
In this episode of Sorry Pal, Levi takes a flamethrower to a conversation about LGBTQ+ representation in professional wrestling that most people would rather bury under hashtags, corporate statements, and carefully rehearsed bullshit.
He makes it clear this is not an attack on gay or transgender people, nor is it an argument that LGBTQ+ wrestlers do not belong in wrestling. In fact, he argues the opposite: that fear of association may be keeping promoters, wrestlers, fans, sponsors, and even venues from fully supporting LGBTQ+-focused wrestling events.
Using magician Adam Schill’s experience at a Pride festival as an example, Levi examines how quickly people can invent an entire story based on nothing more than a photograph, an event, and the people involved. He asks whether that same cowardice affects wrestlers who work LGBTQ+ shows, fans who attend them, and promoters who advertise them.
Levi also looks at the visibility of LGBTQ+ wrestlers in major companies, the end of Enjoy Wrestling, and the brutal reality facing independent promotions trying to build an inclusive product in an already miserable business.
But the conversation does not stop there.
Levi questions whether parts of the LGBTQ+ wrestling community can sometimes become so defensive from years of legitimate attacks that ordinary wrestling criticism is immediately branded homophobia or transphobia. He argues that inclusion cannot mean building a criticism-proof bubble, and that there has to be room between hatred and mindless agreement.
Is fear from outside the LGBTQ+ community holding LGBTQ+ wrestling back?
Are promoters, sponsors, wrestlers, and fans terrified of what people might assume?
Could defensiveness from within parts of the community be making it harder to reach a broader wrestling audience?
Is it both?
Or is Levi completely fucking wrong?
This episode is not about slogans, politics, or secondhand locker-room gossip. It is about firsthand experiences, professional wrestling, and whether people are willing to discuss the uncomfortable parts of the conversation without immediately throwing a label at somebody and pretending the discussion is over.
And if asking those questions gets Levi canceled?
Good.
Because some questions need to be asked
Sorry, Pal, Not So Sorry