Yuen: Outrage over a male Vikings cheerleader makes for a heartsick mom

If you are one of the cold-hearted trolls who couldn’t resist demeaning the new Vikings cheerleader Louie Conn on social media just because he’s a man, you ought to know that he’s probably seen everything you typed.

“He’s 22. Of course he reads it all,” says Louie’s mother, Kathleen Conn.

Louie and another dancer, Blaize Shiek, made news this week after online posts noted that the two men earned spots on the Vikings cheer roster this year, the first males to do so since 1998. Then the internet freaked out.

The vitriol included anti-gay hate, threats from fans to abandon the Vikings, and accusations that men were “invading” women’s sports.

Louie’s been taken aback and saddened by the commentary. His mom is heartsick, too.

“This kid, I’m so incredibly proud of him,” Conn says, tearing up. “It makes me sick that people are so small-minded and so mean. For somebody with his talent and work ethic achieving these goals, just to get slammed for doing something he’s incredible at, passionate about, and doing something he loves.”

The family was surprised by the blow-back. As one of the first male dancers at Iowa State University, Louie received nothing but support, his mom told me. Gophers fans consider Matthew Greco, the University of Minnesota’s first man to join its dance team, a beloved and integral part of the crew. Collegiate cheer teams have a longstanding tradition of including men. (Have we forgotten that four U.S. presidents, including George W. Bush, were male cheerleaders?)

“You wouldn’t think you’d have this in Minneapolis, the honest to God’s truth,” Conn said.

There’s nothing original about the abuse. Louie’s been bullied before, going back to middle school. After snagging a spot on the dance team at Pleasant Valley High School in Bettendorf, Iowa, he declined his placement because of the homophobic remarks hurled his way.

But girls on the team encouraged him to try out the following year. He gathered his courage and followed their advice, soon becoming the high school’s first male dancer, according to the school news site, the Spartan Shield.

“He’s got more bravery in his little finger than most people,” says Conn, who plans to cheer for her son from the stands at the Vikings’ home game on Saturday.

She recalls that when his Iowa State dance team traveled to Florida last spring for the college nationals, Louie was practicing a flip when his leg caught the broadside of a couch, splitting his knee wide open. In the ER, doctors told him he wasn’t going to dance at nationals.

Louie did, blood oozing through his bandage during the final routine, and the team won a national title. The very next week, Louie arrived in Minneapolis to try out for the Vikings squad.

Louie didn’t respond to my requests for interviews. Kimberly Munn, his former dance teacher in Iowa, said it’s been painful to see bullies disparage Louie online. It’s reminiscent of the small-minded negativity he had to overcome while growing up.

“Being a boy in the Midwest who dances is already a strike against you,” she said.

Munn and the dance community in the Quad Cities persuaded Louie to try out for the Vikings; he was convinced he wasn’t good enough. Louie regularly comes back to her studio to teach. Young students adore him.

“He is one of the kindest human beings I’ve ever met,” Munn said. “All of the stones that have been thrown at him — he could be such a different person than who he is today. He’s never allowed that to define him. He works his tail off.”

Conn says the legions of supporters help, and yet she still worries about her son’s safety. It didn’t help that at training camp last week, one of the Vikings security guards asked if Louie plans to shave his legs, she said.

Come on, Minnesota. We’re better than this.

So if you’re one of the people upset that Louie is cheering for the Vikes, question why you’re feeling this kind of anger. (I sense that much of the online outrage is fake, or at least inflated from reality.) Does it make you feel better to take down a kid whom you’ve never met and whose cheerleading has no bearing on your life?

For the rest of us, let’s drown out the hate. Stand up for Louie and Blaize on social media, as many have already done. If you’re at the Vikings game Saturday and you hear someone make a sexist taunt, tell them to knock it off. We need everybody, especially men, to let these two athletes know we have their backs. Just let these young men dance.