I just read that thread, it is a bit of an eye opener
I had never really thought about a lot of the points raised. The whole gay thing had certainly never even entered my mind as I know you don't have to be gay to skate that is just silly. I am straight as they come and so are all the guys I am friendly with I think but could be wrong I guess??.
I would love to learn to play Ice Hockey but I would also like to learn more technical stuff. The Hickeys are fast but a lot of stuff on them is more difficult or just not possible. So when you try and pick bits up using them watching the figure skaters you always seem to wonder if it is even possible to do.
But the guys do really take the piss out of the blokes in figure skates, and when I go it is not "kid soup" or "Disco night" so I can imagine those times are worse.
I have not had any issues telling any of my friends that I go skating a lot they just assume that I will end up playing on some recreational Hockey team or buying a rink or something. A few of them come along with me when they can but mostly I go on my own.
But honestly this does worry me a bit, if there was no stigma I would have bought a pair weeks back.