The only gay on the pch | LGBTQ+ rights | The Guardian

Contents:

• CRAIG MAXWELL-KEYS: PREMIERSHIP GBY REFEREE ME OUT AS GAY VIA WHATSAPP
• GAY GBY LEAGUE REFEREE LIFTS LID ON HOW G OUT AFFECTED OFFICIATG REER
• WHO IS GBY REF NIGEL OWENS? WELSHMAN BRAVELY ME OUT AS GAY, FOUGHT BULIMIA AND OVERME SUICI
• DISMANTLG STEREOTYP: 10 INSPIRG GAY RUGBY PLAYERS AND PERSONALI
• ‘I NSIRED CHEMIL STRATN,’ SAYS GAY GBY REFEREE NIGEL OWENS
• LIST | 5 GAY RUGBY STARS WHO ARE OUT AND PROUD
• GAY RUGBY REFEREE
• PNEERG GAY GBY REFEREE NIGEL OWNS LLED AN ‘ABOMATN’ HATEFUL, HOMOPHOBIC LETTER
• THE ONLY GAY ON THE PCH
• TOP ENGLISH GBY REFEREE CRAIG MAXWELL-KEYS OUT AS GAY
• GAY MOSW MOSW CY GUI
• GAY GBY LEAGUE REFEREE LIFTS LID ON HOW G OUT AFFECTED OFFICIATG REER
• PNEERG GAY GBY REFEREE NIGEL OWNS LLED AN ‘ABOMATN’ HATEFUL, HOMOPHOBIC LETTER
• GAY RUGBY REFEREE NIGEL OWENS ONCE CONSIRED CHEMIL CASTRATN

CRAIG MAXWELL-KEYS: PREMIERSHIP GBY REFEREE ME OUT AS GAY VIA WHATSAPP

When gby referee Nigel Owens me out as gay 2007, he said was “a big taboo” to be LGBT+ his le of work. Welsh gby player Gareth Thomas later me out as gay, and other players have opened up about their inti too.

GAY GBY LEAGUE REFEREE LIFTS LID ON HOW G OUT AFFECTED OFFICIATG REER

Did you enunter much homophobia after g out as gay? But on the odd ocsn – on the very, very odd ocsn that there were homophobic ments shouted at me om the spectators – was heard by other people and was reported to the relevant bodi and they managed to al wh the suatn. Rugby has allowed to be who we are, so nobody uld say that gby is a homophobic sport.

Craig Maxwell-Keys explas a cisn to Exeter Chiefs' Jack YeandleProfsnal gby has ntually embraced morn technology - so 's no surprise that Premiership referee Craig Maxwell-Keys took a siar approach towards g out as gay. "Gunng over prejudice to chase Olympic dreamMaxwell-Keys drifted towards beg a match official by chance - he broke his wrist playg for Lichfield as a youngster and, while reverg om the jury, he enrolled on a refereeg and tly bten by the refereeg bug, he took charge at the Staffordshire Unr-12 Ftival at the age of 17 and worked his way up the ladr to bee a full-time referee urse, Maxwell-Keys is not the only openly gay gby referee - Nigel Owens, who me out 2007, is one of the sport's hight-profile officials and has featured at three World Cups. Gay gby league referee Jam Child has opened up on how revealg his sexualy publicly for the first time 2021 affected his officiatg reerJam Child beme the first Super League referee to announce he was gay 2021 Retired gby league referee Jam Child claims he 'felt more rpect' om players he officiated after revealg his sexualy.

Child, 39, beme the first Super League referee to announce publicly that he was gay Febary 2021. In 2007, the Mynyddcerrig-native shocked the sports world by g out as gay.

WHO IS GBY REF NIGEL OWENS? WELSHMAN BRAVELY ME OUT AS GAY, FOUGHT BULIMIA AND OVERME SUICI

6 In 2007 Owens shocked the sports world by g out as gayCred: SWNS:South Wt News Service. It's such a big taboo to be gay my le of work, I had to thk very hard about bee I didn't want to jeopardise my reer. A GAY REF IN A MACHO SPORT.

"It's such a big taboo to be gay my le of work, I had to thk very hard about bee I didn't want to jeopardise my reer, " he nfsed. "When I beme a referee, beme clear that there was nobody the sport who was gay. "Although that’s not to say that the sport is openly homophobic.

DISMANTLG STEREOTYP: 10 INSPIRG GAY RUGBY PLAYERS AND PERSONALI

Owens knew he was gay his late teens.

In light of recent ntroversy regardg homophobic slurs by Israel Fol, we thought we would she a light on 10 fluential gay gby personali. The players have bee a bean of light bee they overme stereotyp and other challeng faced by homosexual athlet way too often. In this article, we’ll name ten of the most notable gay gby personali, analyze their acplishments, discs how they are shapg the game today, and asss their impact on the overall perceptn of homosexual profsnal athlet around the world.

‘I NSIRED CHEMIL STRATN,’ SAYS GAY GBY REFEREE NIGEL OWENS

That beg said, due to s physily, gby is regard as a “manly” sport, which mak more difficult for gay players to publicly acknowledge their preference. At the same time, there are many misnceptns about this betiful sport, which has led to the margalizatn and targetg of gay players. Some high-profile stars like Israel Fol have recently ma headl due to potentially homophobic posts on social media.

This is one of the ma reasons why reprentativ of World Rugby met wh the lears of Internatnal Gay Rugby (IGR) to help eradite homophobia and tolerance om the game. Notable homosexual gby players and personali.

Here’s a list of ten notable gay gby players and how they are shapg the game today.

LIST | 5 GAY RUGBY STARS WHO ARE OUT AND PROUD

The very first high-profile gby player to ever e out to the public as gay is former Atralian ternatnal Ian Roberts. Even though Ian Roberts may have been the first high-profile player to openly adm beg gay, Keegan Hirst was the first to ever do while still active.

Currently a Wakefield Try prop, Hirst has bee one of the most notable gay athlet, earng himself a startg role after signg a ntract wh the League si 2016.

GAY RUGBY REFEREE

Sam Stanley beme the first openly gay Rugby Unn and Sevens player the UK. Although he never played gby at a profsnal level, Mark Bgham has bee an inic figure for gay gby players and sportspeople around the world. Known for his heroics durg the September 11 attacks, Bgham was a robt send-row man who played for the gay-clive San Francis Fog RFC.

The Mark Kendall Bgham Memorial Tournament, simply known as the Bgham Cup, is a biennial gay gby unn tournament which was held for the first time 2002.

PNEERG GAY GBY REFEREE NIGEL OWNS LLED AN ‘ABOMATN’ HATEFUL, HOMOPHOBIC LETTER

Thomas publicly me out 2009 and has sce scribed his experience as a secretly gay player, revealg how the social prsure and stereotyp pose a signifint challenge for many athlet today. The Welshman is also a TV personaly and a voted activist for the LGBT e, wng “Gay Sports Personaly of the De” at the Stonewall awards ceremony London back 2015. Rugby referee Nigel Owens is one of the most proment gay men sport.

As an openly gay figure one of the most mascule of sports Nigel Owens is a rary – but he might never have achieved his inic stat gby unn if he had gone ahead wh plans for a chemil stratn. “I didn’t want to be gay, ” Owens, who me out 2007, told CNN. “I actually went to the doctor at one stage to see if I uld be chemilly strated any way, if would get rid of me beg gay.

They n’t tell other people they’re gay bee they’re fightg themselv. However, he believ the mcular world of gby unn is way ahead of other global sports when to acceptg gay stars, although Gareth Thomas beme the first profsnal player to open up about his sexualy as recently as 2009. “It annoys me sometim when people say gby is homophobic.

THE ONLY GAY ON THE PCH

He’s om Wal, his name is Nigel Owens and he’s openly gay. New report to homophobia UK sport. Gay referee: "Still some issu".

English gby has been praised for clampg down on homophobia the sport, though a leadg gay referee warns there is still work to be done eraditg the problem. A Brish ernment select mtee released a report Sunday vtigatg the prevalence of homophobia UK sport and how the lg bodi were alg wh . In November 2014, two gby fans were banned for two years and each orred to pay £1, 000 ($1, 250) to a chary of gay referee Nigel Owens’ choice after the Welshman was verbally abed while officiatg an ternatnal match between England and Wal at Twickenham.

TOP ENGLISH GBY REFEREE CRAIG MAXWELL-KEYS OUT AS GAY

“As far as homophobia go, there are some issu gby that need to be addrsed and need to be eradited, but I thk gby is aware of those problems and do all n to eradite them. READ: Gay gby ref ‘nsired chemil stratn’. The mtee also praised gby unn’s rival gby league for s rponse when openly gay player Keegan Hirst received homophobic abe on Twter after a game September 2016.

“There is no place our sport for homophobic abe or ed any abe and we wish to send out a clear msage, ” the club said. The mtee said gby unn, along wh sports such as swimmg and divg, had ma “signifint progrs” creasg the visibily of gay participants. The RFU said supported ne gay gby clubs across England, and planned to bid for the right to aga stage the biennial ternatnal Bgham Cup tournament – an amatr gay gby unn tournament – which was held Manchter 2012.

GAY MOSW MOSW CY GUI

It said s “We Call It Rugby” mpaign featured an advert aimed at breakg down barriers for LGBT people, profilg the gay and clive Manchter Spartans club, and overall the seri of vios had reached almost 35 ln people through outdoor advertisg, social media and televisn. The mpaign was aimed at 16- to 24-year-olds, an age group the mtee said was notable for gay athlet droppg out of their sports.

While the gby s have had openly gay profsnals such as Hirst and former Wal pta Gareth Thomas, the mtee noted that ele UK football has no active “out” players. England’s Football Associatn said homophobia “is an issue that we take very serly” and was one of chairman Greg Clarke’s “top prri. In 2014, former Premier League star Thomas Hzlsperger announced he was gay months after retirg.

GAY GBY LEAGUE REFEREE LIFTS LID ON HOW G OUT AFFECTED OFFICIATG REER

“From the evince we have received this quiry, we believe there are many gay athlet who have not e out, bee they are ightened of the impact this cisn will have on their reers, and the liv of the people they love, ” chair of the mtee, MP Damian Colls, said a statement. “More needs to be done by the thori to addrs both the overt and latent homophobia that exists wh sport. Retired gby referee Nigel Owens MBE was banned by Facebook after sharg a a screenshot of homophobic abe he had received om an anonymo er on Instagram.

“Not the person who was actually postg the homophobic ments. Nigel Owens lled out the onle troll who posted the homophobic letter. Followers of the sportg legend, who me out as gay 2007, me forward to praise his actns.

PNEERG GAY GBY REFEREE NIGEL OWNS LLED AN ‘ABOMATN’ HATEFUL, HOMOPHOBIC LETTER

Fat, lonely, bulimic, addicted to steroids and secretly gay, Owens climbed high above the Welsh valley where he grew up and waed for the sleepg pills to take hold. Beg a referee is a lonely job; beg the only profsnal - player or ref - brave enough to be openly gay mt be lonelier still on gby unn's pch.

And Owens is not jt an exceptn gby; apart om the tennis player Amélie Mrmo, virtually no ternatnal gay or lbian sports star still playg has publicly discsed their sexualy.

GAY RUGBY REFEREE NIGEL OWENS ONCE CONSIRED CHEMIL CASTRATN

"When I me out, took a lot of weight off my shoulrs that I was accepted, that I was gay and ma no difference, " he explas, soundg and lookg like any of the sually drsed sportsmen who pad around the untry hoe hotel near Cardiff where we meet. "I didn't want to be gay, " he says. Comg om this old-fashned, close-kn muny, I didn't really know what a gay person was or looked like.

I remember walkg to town and makg a pot of gog to a hairdrser's wdow to see if I uld see a gay person there.