Former Wallaby Dan Palmer 'humbled' by support after g out as gay | Rugby unn | The Guardian

Contents:

• DAN PALMER PRAISED AFTER BEG FIRST WALLABI PLAYER TO E OUT AS GAY
• 'MY OWN ATH FELT PREFERABLE TO ANYBODY DISVERG': FORMER WALLABY DAN PALMER OUT AS GAY POWERFUL LUMN
• DAN PALMER: FORMER ATRALIA GBY PROP BE FIRST OPENLY GAY WALLABI PLAYER
• HUGE SUPPORT FOR FORMER WALLABI PLAYER WHO HAS E OUT AS GAY
• ‘MY OWN ATH FELT PREFERABLE TO ANYBODY DISVERG I WAS GAY,’ SAYS FORMER GBY PLAYER DAN PALMER
• RUGBY PRO DAN PALMER OUT AS GAY AFTER YEARS OF ‘SPISG HIMSELF’ WH VAL MSAGE OF HOPE
• EX-WALLABI PLAYER DAN PALMER COM OUT AS GAY IN POWERFUL ESSAY ABOUT HIS INTERNAL STGGLE
• FORMER WALLABY DAN PALMER 'HUMBLED' BY SUPPORT AFTER G OUT AS GAY
• RUGBY-FORMER TT PROP PALMER BE FIRST WALLABY TO E OUT AS GAY

DAN PALMER PRAISED AFTER BEG FIRST WALLABI PLAYER TO E OUT AS GAY

Palmer tailed the mental health issu and dg problems he experienced when g to terms wh his sexualy, although he said he never felt discrimated agast durg his playg the long-nng Israel Fol saga, which rulted the wger’s sackg by Rugby Atralia after he posted on social media that “hell awas” gay people, was a ntributg factor his cisn to wre the lumn. ”Former Wal pta Thomas revealed he was gay 2009, while still actively playg. Many others have done so the women’s game, to far ls Denison, a rearcher wh Monash Universy’s School of Social Scienc who has nducted studi examg homophobia and homophobic behavur gby, said the siari between the stori of Palmer and Thomas highlighted the lack of progrs on the issue sport environments.

'MY OWN ATH FELT PREFERABLE TO ANYBODY DISVERG': FORMER WALLABY DAN PALMER OUT AS GAY POWERFUL LUMN

“There has been a dramatic improvement public attus towards gay people general society, but we haven’t seen the same chang sport where the nstant e of homophobic language creat a culture where gay people feel unwele, ” Denison said. “I’m hopeful that people wh the gby muny will regnise the siary between the stori and unrstand the urgent need to addrs the culture that mak gay people feel unwele and that they have to hi their sexualy to be accepted gby. ”Much progrs has been ma by gby unn recent years, cludg a formal agreement ma between Rugby Atralia and LGBTQ+ and clive teams to fight wh no openly gay active male players, Michael Smh of Internatnal Gay Rugby said there was far more work to be done to create sportg environments which men felt fortable to be themselv.

“Dpe all the progrs we’ve ma around gay rights society, gay athlet still feel like they need to hi their sexualy. “Atralian gby, and the gby teams which Dan played for, have been credibly supportive of the need to addrs homophobia.

DAN PALMER: FORMER ATRALIA GBY PROP BE FIRST OPENLY GAY WALLABI PLAYER

We need to addrs the disnnect between everyone’s sire to be clive and the actual experienc of gay players. “Most gay male athlet still feel they need to hi their sexualy. Oct 30th, 2020Oct 30th, 2020Former Atralian gby star Dan Palmer has bee the first Wallabi player to e out as gay, and jt the send the men's ternatnal a powerful lumn published by the Sydney Morng Herald today, Palmer penned a stirrg acunt of his time as a young man at the height of Rugby Unn tryg to e to terms wh his now 32-year-old revealed the stggl he faced tryg to nceal his homosexualy throughout his reer, durg which he ntemplated endg his life rather than have people disver his tth.

It is not an exaggeratn to say my own ath felt preferable to anybody disverg I was gay.

HUGE SUPPORT FOR FORMER WALLABI PLAYER WHO HAS E OUT AS GAY

(Getty) (Getty)Sadly, Palmer's story is emblematic of the handful of other profsnal athlet that have e out as gay recent s, says Erik Denison, lead rearcher of the Sport Incln Project at Monash Universy, highlightg the lack of progrs on the issue. "Dan's story is almost the same as athlet who e out before him, like Gareth Thomas 10 years ago, and David Kelley, who is the very first gay athlete to e out as an NFL player back the 70s, " Denison exclively told Wi World of Sports. And that's really what we need to foc on; why gay athlet ntue to feel that they're gog to be rejected.

"Through Denison's rearch to homophobia sport, he found the overwhelmg factor that ntributed to an unwelg environment for gay men was the systemic e of rogatory language. "It really down to the language that is beg ed, leav the imprsn that gay athlet are unwele that environment, " he fends the Wallabi' performance agast the All Blacks: 5 Ms wh Fzy"What we found the rearch is that om a very young age young men hear homophobic slurs which are ed nstantly as part of banter.

"And bee they hear homophobic words every time when someone drops a ball or for msg up builds this associatn and their md that is que strong between beg gay and beg unsirable or beg weak.

‘MY OWN ATH FELT PREFERABLE TO ANYBODY DISVERG I WAS GAY,’ SAYS FORMER GBY PLAYER DAN PALMER

And we nsistently hear om gay athlet when we terview them, they felt like beg gay was patible to beg a gby player and an athlete. "Men e homophobic and sexist language sport, sentially to nigrate or to scribe anythg that is weak, that is not manly.

RUGBY PRO DAN PALMER OUT AS GAY AFTER YEARS OF ‘SPISG HIMSELF’ WH VAL MSAGE OF HOPE

"Palmer, a prop who played one Tt for the Wallabi 2012 and domtilly for the Waratahs and Bmbi between 2008 and 2015, jos Welshman Gareth Thomas as the only other male profsnal gby player to have e out as gay. Retired Wallabi and Super Rugby prop Dan Palmer has revealed the toll hidg his homosexualy took on his mental health durg his playg pots:Dan Palmer says he was "trated, angry and sperately sad" as he hid his sexualy durg his gby reer wh the Bmbi, Waratahs and WallabiPalmer has wrten of his stggl for the first time, sayg he hop helps people feel more fortable wh themselv Palmer cricised former gby unn star Israel Fol, who had his ntract torn up by Rugby Atralia for social media posts about homosexualsIn an article wrten for The Sydney Morng Herald, Palmer scribed the ner turmoil he endured, even amid his achievements on the ma 46 Super Rugby appearanc for the Waratahs and Bmbi — beg a vice-pta for the latter si — and played a Tt for the Wallabi agast Stland is one of only a few male profsnal gby unn players to e out worldwi, the hight profile beg former Wal, and Brish and Irish Lns ternatnal Gareth Thomas said he was "credibly trated, angry and sperately sad" durg his reer, addg that he was "trapped a false narrative and uld see no way out". "It is not an exaggeratn to say my own ath felt preferable to anybody disverg I was gay.

"He was the first person I told that I was gay my 25 years on the pla, " Palmer wrote.

EX-WALLABI PLAYER DAN PALMER COM OUT AS GAY IN POWERFUL ESSAY ABOUT HIS INTERNAL STGGLE

Fol's views the exceptn, not the le, says Palmer Palmer rerved stgg cricism for former gby unn star Israel Fol, who was sacked by Rugby Atralia 2019 for breachg the players' of ma a number of ntroversial Instagram posts, cludg one proclaimg hell awas "dnks, homosexuals, adulterers, liars, fornitors, thiev, atheists and idolators".

FORMER WALLABY DAN PALMER 'HUMBLED' BY SUPPORT AFTER G OUT AS GAY

"I believe sport is at s bt when 's challengg society to be more clive, " he said Palmer's article was a "good remr of how much more work there is to do" to enurage clivy Denison, a rearcher at Monash Universy's School of Social Scienc, has nducted rearch on homophobic language gby unn and the impact on players stgglg wh their Denison said Palmer's experience was siar to what Thomas went through durg his playg reer prr to revealg his sexualy. One-Tt Atralia prop Dan Palmer has bee the first Wallabi player to e out as gay.

Homophobic language 'mon gby unn' Harlequs held a Pri Game durg LGBT History Month Febary A recent study backed by Harlequs has revealed that almost half of male gby players admted to recently g homophobic slurs while over two-thirds had heard team-mat e siar study analysed data llected om randomly selected gby clubs the south of England January and Febary of found that the majory of male gby players (69 per cent) had heard their team-mat g slurs such as 'fag' or 'dyke' the last two weeks, while 42 per cent of players admted to g this language themselv the same time perd. Rabow smoke flar were released before kick-off at the Twickenham Stoop The study also found this language do not appear to be motivated by 'homophobia' or any malice or prejudice toward gay people, wh many of the gby players who ed the 'slurs' also exprsg posive attus toward gay people, and most (67 per cent) male gby players reported they have 'close' gay iends. "It is surprisg to see a near-total disnnect between the homophobic language beg ed by gby players, and their attus to gay people, " Erik Denison said, one of the rearchers leadg ternatnal studi on this issue.

The hoardgs at the Stoop were cked out rabow lours "Most gby players say they e the homophobic language to get a lgh out of others, or f on their team, and seems they don't realise how harmful this language is to gay people, or to the team culture generally.

RUGBY-FORMER TT PROP PALMER BE FIRST WALLABY TO E OUT AS GAY

"Palmer tailed the mental health issu and dg problems he experienced when g to terms wh his sexualy, although he said he never felt discrimated agast durg his playg mediaBut the long-nng Israel Fol saga, which rulted the wger's sackg by Rugby Atralia after he posted on social media that "hell awas" gay people, was a ntributg factor his cisn to wre the lumn.