#Rev (GearShark #2)(92)

GS: What makes you say that?

TM: Because love is complicated and messy. For everyone. But it’s especially hard when you love someone that most people think you shouldn’t. We’re basically opening ourselves up to a lot of judgment, and we don’t want that. No one likes to be judged. Indie drivers are judged because they aren’t pro. They’re seen as somehow less because they don’t have big sponsors and a set of rules. My relationship with Drew is seen as somehow less because people think love between two men can’t be as strong as love between a man and a woman.

GS: Is it?

TM: I think love between two men has the ability to be stronger.

GS: Why?

TM: Because there is so much working against us. Love has to be really strong to withstand the hate.

GS: Have you and Drew experienced hate?

TM: Yes. People in our lives we thought would always love us turned their backs. A few friends don’t want to be in the same room with us anymore. <clears his throat and his face darkens> I was jumped by four men and beaten.

GS: How have you dealt with it? Why are you still here talking to me today?

TM: We’re here because we want the revolution of racing to be about more than just the racing. This is a sport for the overlooked, the drivers who were told they weren’t good enough. As Drew said before, it’s a division of underdogs who are determined to make a mark, to show the world they are just as good as the pros. We want people to know in this division, everyone is welcome and no one will be made to feel like they aren’t good enough.

GS: You’ve felt like that? Like you aren’t good enough?

TM: Most of my life.

GS: I have to say that’s hard to believe. I look at you, and you’re like the poster boy for the all-American jock. Good-looking, confident, a hard body… I think a lot of people are going to scoff when you say you feel like you aren’t good enough.

TM: Did you miss the part where I said I was held down and beaten? But yeah, I get what you’re saying. I know how I look, but that’s just on the surface. I think a lot of people will identify with the fact that they might look one way but feel another.

GS: Kind of like judging a book by its cover?

TM: Something like that.

GS: So you said people have turned their backs on you both? Have people been supportive?

TM: Absolutely. We have an entire family that supports us. Ron Gamble supports us. Other indie drivers support us. We’re hoping your readers will support us.

GS: I don’t see how they couldn’t. So you’ve drawn a lot of parallels between the new division and your relationship with Drew. Drew, are you worried coming out with something so personal about yourself will hurt your budding career? You said Ron Gamble, your sponsor and founder of this division, is supportive, but were you afraid he wouldn’t be?

DF: This is my absolute dream job. I’ve always wanted to race for a living, so of course I’m worried this could hurt my career. I definitely was nervous Ron Gamble would cancel our sponsorship. He didn’t have to keep me on. But he did. He’s a smart businessman, but he’s also a good human being.

GS: You could have kept your relationship a secret.

DF: <sits forward> You just heard Trent say he sometimes feels like he isn’t good enough. I love him. I can’t help loving him. Would we have chosen this? Maybe not, but there isn’t a choice here. It’s him. I would never put him in the shadows and treat him like he was a dirty secret. He’s not. If people want to think lesser of me because I love someone, then maybe I don’t need them in my life.

<At this point in the interview, Trent reaches beside him and holds out his hand. Drew responds immediately by linking his with it. I have to say seeing two strong men resolved to love each other kind of makes my heart speed up just a little.> TM: Since coming out with our relationship, we’ve met a few others who have been struggling with the same kind of thing. Everything I do is for Drew, but this is for those people, too. Like I said, sometimes we need someone—anyone—to come forward and make being different okay. Drew and I are in a unique position because of the division. Thanks to Ron Gamble, Drew has the ability to kick ass on the track and prove he doesn’t have to follow the rules to do it.

GS: I think you have that ability, too. You’re both easy role models.

TM: No. We’re men. We’re human just like everyone else. We just want to live our life and not hide.

GS: What would you say to all the haters out there?

TM: I don’t have anything to say to them.

DF: I have something to say.

GS: Okay, what?

DF: Don’t be an ass about it. <pauses> Can I say ass?

<Trent laughs, and I do, too.> GS: So what you’re really saying is not everyone has to like your life choices, but you don’t want to hear their opinion?

DF: Well, if you want to be all politically correct about it.

GS: <To Trent> I can see what you mean about him being a handful.

TM: I think I deserve a raise.

GS: Is it hard to balance all the roles you have in each other’s lives? Friends, co-workers, and romantically involved?

TM and DF: No.

<I admire the way these two know exactly what they want and don’t apologize for it.> GS: I don’t know if it makes a difference, but for the record, everyone here at GearShark supports you both.