LIST | 5 Gay Rugby Stars Who Are Out And Proud - Ruck

Contents:

• LESTER’S NICK MCCARTHY OUT AS GAY AND THANKS CLUB FOR THEIR SUPPORT
• DISMANTLG STEREOTYP: 10 INSPIRG GAY RUGBY PLAYERS AND PERSONALI
• HEARD OF THE STEELERS? NO, NOT THEM, THE GAY GBY TEAM OM LONDON
• HOW AMAZON PRIME’S GAY GBY DOCUMENTARY STEELERS PLETELY FLIPS THE DISURSE OF MASTREAM LGBTQ+ STORI
• WORLD'S FIRST GAY GBY CLUB THAT BEAT THE BIGOTS BY TACKLG HOMOPHOBIA GETS S OWN FILM
• LIST | 5 GAY RUGBY STARS WHO ARE OUT AND PROUD
• SAM STANLEY IS FIRST ENGLISH GBY PLAYER TO E OUT AS GAY
• 10 GAY RUGBY PLAYERS WHO MA THEIR COME OUT
• JOG THE WORLD'S FIRST GAY GBY TEAM CHANGED MY LIFE. SO I MA A FILM ABOUT

LESTER’S NICK MCCARTHY OUT AS GAY AND THANKS CLUB FOR THEIR SUPPORT

FIND YOUR NEAREST GAY & INCLUSIVE RUGBY CLUB. Wh lots of new Gay & Inclive Rugby Clubs settg up across the globe each year, ’s more and more likely that you live close enough to one to get volved wh and enjoy all kds of gby – regardls of your genr, sexualy, ethnicy, relign, size or gby the Map Search below or scroll through the Global Club Listgs lower down this page to fd an IGR club.

The Lester scm-half Nick McCarthy has e out as gay, and thanked ach Leo Cullen and Stuart Lanster for their “unbelievable” support. I need to accept beg gay myself before I uld addrs wh others.

DISMANTLG STEREOTYP: 10 INSPIRG GAY RUGBY PLAYERS AND PERSONALI

Photograph: Ryan Byrne/Inpho/ShutterstockFellow Lester player Dunne revealed his bisexualy last year, around the same time Nassib announced he was gay and a few months before Atralian Cavallo ma headl across the world by sharg his news. Last month, Blackpool’s Jake Daniels beme the first UK-based male footballer to e out as gay sce 1990.

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. 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.

HEARD OF THE STEELERS? NO, NOT THEM, THE GAY GBY TEAM OM LONDON

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.

HOW AMAZON PRIME’S GAY GBY DOCUMENTARY STEELERS PLETELY FLIPS THE DISURSE OF MASTREAM LGBTQ+ STORI

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

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. Sam Stanley beme the first openly gay Rugby Unn and Sevens player the UK.

WORLD'S FIRST GAY GBY CLUB THAT BEAT THE BIGOTS BY TACKLG HOMOPHOBIA GETS S OWN FILM

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.

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.

Niamh LewisMar 1, 2021, 09:52 AM ETWhen Eammon Ashton-Atkson, an Atralian televisn reporter, cid to film his gby club as they went to the biannual Bgham Cup 2018, he uld never have imaged the posive reactn a documentary about would film Steelers is about London-based Kgs Cross Steelers, the world's first gay gby club and one of over 60 such sis world-wi.

LIST | 5 GAY RUGBY STARS WHO ARE OUT AND PROUD

Although the stori the film are related to the stggl of g out, prsn, and a history of bullyg for beg gay, they're are told a way which wir dienc n empathise wh. "It's a story about a gay gby club, but 's also a story about human stggle, and people g sport and their sense of muny to help each other, which is universal, " Ashton-Atkson told ESPN. "She's got a certifite for the hight achg level, and sce she left the Steelers she's been nsistently overlooked and not even shortlisted [for jobs] than men who are ls qualified and ls experienced than her, which is heart-breakg and disgtg, " Ashton-Atkson beg gay 2021 wtern society is often unremarkable today, you don't have to go back very far to fd trmatic stori.

SAM STANLEY IS FIRST ENGLISH GBY PLAYER TO E OUT AS GAY

"But, if 's easier to e out now, then why do we need gay gby clubs? "That's a thought that do go through your md, and while 's generally a posive there are still pockets of homophobia. Then, 2019, Atralia's Israel Fol spouted his famo anti-gay ments on Instagram, sayg "hell awas" gay opened the drawer and started the ed aga om scratch, and turned to the unnventnal documentary has bee.

"Wh beg gay, you don't thk that I grew up sperately wantg to change my sexualy, like, wishg the gay away? They were dubbed the tabloids as 'Harlequeens, ' there was homophobic ments, and a fear over ntractg HIV and AIDS. "For those of who grew up when wasn't ok to be gay, jt really before the ter was mon, there was huge stigma.

10 GAY RUGBY PLAYERS WHO MA THEIR COME OUT

You had Margaret Thatcher's Sectn 28 [a law brought the UK by a Conservative ernment om 1988-2003 to the "prohib the promotn of homosexualy"], misnceptns about the HIV vis, " Ashton-Atkson explas.

"For those guys who were settg up that team 1995, they were real trailblazers bee they were gog out to different teams Essex week--week out smashg down stereotyp one game of gby at a time and om what I heard, the men Essex, they had never met an openly gay man before, let alone an openly gay sportsman. However, "There are still issu wh homophobia and homophobic language beg ed on the pch. "And one of the thgs we've been workg on wh Harlequs and Monash Universy is that a lot of that isn't actually homophobia, 's the culture of clubs, the challeng of languag not beg followed through.

Joy, celebratn, acceptance – Steelers has a place for everyone (Picture: Amazon Prime)The Kg’s Cross Steelers may not be a team on your radar, whether you’re gay or straight, but few clubs will have ma que the impact of the self-ma gby teamed found a north London pub 25 years ago. The film follows the Steelers as they make the biannual pilgrimage to the Bgham World Cup where, 25 years after the Steelers was formed, a further 60 clubs worldwi followed s lead, and now every two years they e together and battle out – savagely – the biggt gay gby tournament the world. As turned out, he soon found a new fay – a team of gay men om all walks of LGBTQ+ life wh a shared love, passn, and talent for the sport which many gay men have otherwise been exclud om.

JOG THE WORLD'S FIRST GAY GBY TEAM CHANGED MY LIFE. SO I MA A FILM ABOUT

The Kgs Cross Steelers attempt to w the gay gby world cup (Picture: Kgs Cross Steeelrs)‘I was lookg around the club and I realised wasn’t jt me who had felt this impact, was every sgle player. I was tryg to work out what was about gay gby that was so special and a benef for all the queer people – mental health benefs om sport and beg able to form a relatnship away om dgs and alhol as well as reclaimg that place on the sportg pch where we’re told we don’t belong.