The urageo journey of Ian Roberts, gby league's first openly gay player | Rugby league | The Guardian

Contents:

• THE URAGEO JOURNEY OF IAN ROBERTS, GBY LEAGUE'S FIRST OPENLY GAY PLAYER
• GAY RUGBY LEAGUE PLAYER SAYS HE'S SEEN MUCH 'GAYER' THGS IN SPORTS CHANGG ROOMS
• FIRST OPENLY GAY GBY LEAGUE PLAYER KEEGAN HIRST OUT OF RETIREMENT
• LESTER’S NICK MCCARTHY OUT AS GAY AND THANKS CLUB FOR THEIR SUPPORT
• I WAS A GBY HARDMAN WHO BROKE AN OPPONENT’S JAW – BUT WHEN I ME OUT AS GAY TO MY PARENTS THEY STOPPED TALKG TO ME
• FIRST OPENLY GAY PLAYER KEEGAN HIRST 'OVERWHELMED AND HUMBLED' BY SUPPORT
• YEARS AFTER G OUT, GAY ATHLET UPSET BY LACK OF CHANGE
• WHY DO A GAY SPORTSPERSON FEEL THE NEED TO E OUT PUBLICLY? HERE’S WHY
• IAN ROBERTS' PARENTS STOPPED TALKG TO HIM WHEN HE ME OUT AS GAY
• KEV MAXEN BE FIRST MALE ACH A US MEN’S PROFSNAL SPORTS LEAGUE TO PUBLICLY E OUT AS GAY
• KEEGAN HIRST STEPS ON TO FIELD AS BRA'S FIRST GBY LEAGUE STAR TO E OUT AS GAY
• JACKSONVILLE JAGUARS ASSISTANT COACH KEV MAXEN MAK HISTORY AFTER COMG OUT AS GAY
• DISMANTLG STEREOTYP: 10 INSPIRG GAY RUGBY PLAYERS AND PERSONALI
• WHAT MEANS TO BE GAY RUGBY LEAGUE
• JACKSONVILLE JAGUARS' KEV MAXEN BE FIRST MALE COACH TO COME OUT AS GAY MAJOR U.S. SPORTS

THE URAGEO JOURNEY OF IAN ROBERTS, GBY LEAGUE'S FIRST OPENLY GAY PLAYER

All month long, Outsports is revisg key moments gay, lbian, bisexual, transgenr and queer sports history as part of LGBTQ history month.

GAY RUGBY LEAGUE PLAYER SAYS HE'S SEEN MUCH 'GAYER' THGS IN SPORTS CHANGG ROOMS

But, shocked a few the public, yeah, but, but by that stage I, I mt adm, was so a non-issue for me, and I mean that wh all my heart, was, you know, now, I look back now, my God, nowadays I get remd that I’m gay. People mightn’t rpect the way you live your life but, you know, everyone rpects honty and tth, and if you’re a cent person on top of that, you know, the end, do, falls away beg gay.

I tried to nceal the fact that I was gay, at that time, and, and still I had a, male partners, boyiends, tryg to nceal that and, and, and work out the right batn, or the right equatn, for the general public or even iends and fay.

FIRST OPENLY GAY GBY LEAGUE PLAYER KEEGAN HIRST OUT OF RETIREMENT

Everyone always seemed to know that I’d been a gay bar every time I turned up for trag, ‘Robbo, you up Oxford Street aga, eh? I mean, you know, this is a tough thg to say but, you know, predomately gay people want to be treated as equal but fail to treat themselv as equal. I mean that wh all my heart and I, and until you learn what that means, as a gay person, thgs are never gog to change for , you know, thgs won’t change if you don’t change.

When Asie Rul Football player Jason Akermanis said some ignorant thgs about gay teammat and showers last year, Roberts blasted him:.

There are gay kids the suburbs and the untry who are killg themselv bee they see only a limed pictn of gay people that they don’t f. Aborigals, Polynians, Melanians and Southern European migrants provid the game’s first diversy om s Anglo-Celtic base and the terlopers were accepted if they plied wh the and “pped sweet” had no place for homosexual men and to be labeled gay was a slur implyg weakns.

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

And that’s the way remaed until a pneer smashed the stereotype, beg the game’s first openly homosexual player, a precursor, a full 20 years before Keegan Hirst, the Batley Bulldogs player who this weekend beme the first Brish player to do likewise.

“Until Ian Roberts me out we thought all gay guys were weak, ” says Mar Fenech, the former South Sydney Rabbohs pta and Roberts’s team-mate.

Stereotyp mean ls thkg and for the league muny, surround by a ep emotnal moat, there was no way he uld be tough and father always advised him to “go for the biggt guy” and, crippled by a life nial, he uld sublimate his rage and claw back self-worth by excellg at everythg physil, cludg was all a smokcreen for a new phase of his life, glorly gurated at Sydney gay pub The Exchange. Roberts would nvce them that he was gog to “50-50 clubs”, further throwg them off the trail by paradg wh betiful “girliends” at club 1984, an unlikely hero emerged for 19-year-old Roberts the form of New South Wal premier Neville Wran, who passed a law crimalisg homosexualy. ”It was the same year that Bronski Beat’s tortured g out anthem Smalltown Boy stormed world dancefloors, crystallisg the horror experience which a young suburban man is bashed for attendg a gay club and disowned by his father.

I WAS A GBY HARDMAN WHO BROKE AN OPPONENT’S JAW – BUT WHEN I ME OUT AS GAY TO MY PARENTS THEY STOPPED TALKG TO ME

Eventually old school Souths ach Gee Piggs nonted Roberts about his sexualy, pleadg wh him to stop gog to the gay clubs. Early the 1989 season a gossip em wrten unr a nom plume appeared the Sun Herald statg Roberts had been spotted a gay club. In the followg game Roberts was baed by Bulldogs players and openly vilified by fans, the thought of a gay player fuellg the passns of the wilst Jack, pictured after a brawl wh Roberts 1991.

Roberts was bone tired om pretendg, but they both advised him to keep a fay secret until after his years later Roberts tormented gby league media and fans further by agreeg to a nu shoot Blue, a new gay magaze, but did not fively say he was gay. Many the muny viewed Roberts’s g out as a way to save liv, particularly wh high rat of gay teen suici blamed on a lack of posive role mols. Roberts appreciated the honty but uld not buy to the belief that the fans and sponsors would not tolerate a gay man.

FIRST OPENLY GAY PLAYER KEEGAN HIRST 'OVERWHELMED AND HUMBLED' BY SUPPORT

Peter FzSimons the Sydney Morng Herald was clear on the impact of the announcement: “Roberts is not the first gay footballer, but the first wh the urage to live openly. ”Moments and events accumulate to create change and as the first gay ntact sport player to e out durg a reer, Ian Roberts ss wh sports diversy pneers Jackie Robson and Marta Navratilova. A former English gby league star has rpond to the recent LGBTQIA+ jersey saga engulfg the Manly Sea ex-player Keegan Hirst says 's rather ironic that the group are boyttg wearg the pri k bee he's seen 'what go on changg rooms' and 'would be seen as beg MUCH gayer' than simply wearg a rabow jersey for a AlamyThe Manly Sea Eagl have ma headl across the world this week after releasg their 'Everyone League' jersey – unfortunately, though, wasn't for the right was meant to be a posive move to drive clivy soon turned sour when several players threatened to boytt their next game after refg to wear the club’s rabow Aloiai, Jason Saab, Christian Tuipulotu, Josh Schter, Hmole Olak’atu, Tolut Koula and Toafofoa Sipley have been named as the players qutn and will subsequently miss their next fixture after beg stood down on relig saga hasn't pated anyone volved a particularly pleasant light wh both the players and the club self g unr fire.

A number of big-name figur have had their say on the matter, cludg the NRL's first and only openly-gay player Ian Hirst, who me out as gay 2015 durg his time the UK Super League, has h out at the Sea Eagl players.

Keegan Hirst, the first Brish gby league star to e out as gay, has reversed his retirement cisn wh the hope to play for the Batley Bulldogs for the rt of 2022.

YEARS AFTER G OUT, GAY ATHLET UPSET BY LACK OF CHANGE

The Lester scm-half Nick McCarthy has e out as gay, and thanked ach Leo Cullen and Stuart Lanster for their “unbelievable” support.

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. FORMER gby league star Ian Roberts has opened up about the difficult journey he had g out as gay to his parents and the world. Born to what he scrib as a hoehold wh "a lot of racism, and misogynistic and homophobic language", he never felt fortable tellg his parents about his sexualy.

WHY DO A GAY SPORTSPERSON FEEL THE NEED TO E OUT PUBLICLY? HERE’S WHY

Rellg the discsn wh his parents, he told the BBC: "My dad retold the story and said 'we jt need to hear you say you are not gay, and that is good enough for '.

IAN ROBERTS' PARENTS STOPPED TALKG TO HIM WHEN HE ME OUT AS GAY

Dcribg the rponse om his team-mat at the Manly Sea Eagl - who already knew he was gay - he said: "It was kd of a bondg moment for . "There were elements of phback - of urse there were - but if I knew what I knew now I would have e to top-level gby league as a gay man. "Dad said 'I am equally proud of all my children, but I will say that I am so grateful that one of my sons was gay bee I fally saw the world as really was'.

"You expect a b of stick om fans, om players - you get whether you're gay or not - but there wasn't any of that. "I don't thk there will be a Spartac-like thg where everyone out and says 'I'm gay', but if a uple of people do then 's a good thg.

"Cross- ternatnal Gareth Thomas was prevly the only openly homosexual gby player after he me out whilst playg for gby unn si Cardiff Blu 2009. Both took giant leaps of fah when they me at a time when had never been done their is a 78-year-old former Natnal Football League nng back livg Palm Sprgs, California and known as the first profsnal athlete to reveal he was gay. In 1995, Roberts beme the first high-profile Atralian sports person and first profsnal gby player the world to e out as gay.

KEV MAXEN BE FIRST MALE ACH A US MEN’S PROFSNAL SPORTS LEAGUE TO PUBLICLY E OUT AS GAY

Some 45 years after Kopay’s open disclosure, and 25 after Roberts’, both men are uned their disappotment that a higher proportn of gay athlet haven’t e out, and that homophobic language on the sportg fields is still rife. “It’s ignorance more than anythg else, they try to hi their own securi by puttg down other people, ” Kopay told The Associated Prs a telephone terview, speakg of homophobic slurs.

”Kopay’s ments about homophobic language and Roberts’ about g out as gay are at the foreont of two studi published Wednday by Melbourne’s Monash first analyzed survey rpons om 1, 173 lbian, gay, and bisexual people aged 15 to 21 and livg the Uned Stat, Bra, Canada, Atralia, New Zealand or Ireland.

KEEGAN HIRST STEPS ON TO FIELD AS BRA'S FIRST GBY LEAGUE STAR TO E OUT AS GAY

Authors scribed as the first study to vtigate whether LGB youth who “e out” to teammat are more likely to be a target of homophobic behavr than those who do not. “Some gay athlet who have e out as adults have said fears that LGB young people will be the target of homophobic behavrs if they e out to their teammat are unfound, ” said lead thor Erik Denison om Monash’s Behavural Scienc Rearch Laboratory. “Beg the target of homophobic behavr is harmful to the health of LGB young people and creas their risk of prsn, suici, and self-harm.

The study also showed that young people who me out were signifintly more likely to report they’d been the target of homophobic behavrs sport send Monash study vtigated why some athlet e homophobic language.

JACKSONVILLE JAGUARS ASSISTANT COACH KEV MAXEN MAK HISTORY AFTER COMG OUT AS GAY

“Sports anizatns, LGBTQ advocy groups, and ernment officials typilly assume homophobic behavr is driven by homophobic attus sports, ” Denison said. “Over the last two s, dozens of tnal rourc, advertisg mpaigns, and iativ such as Pri Gam have been veloped to end homophobia sports. The approach do not seem to be workg bee studi nsistently fd homophobic language ntu to be equently ed by male athlet.

DISMANTLG STEREOTYP: 10 INSPIRG GAY RUGBY PLAYERS AND PERSONALI

”A sports cln webse updated to ci wh the release of the two studi was created, says, to “illtrate the lack of meangful actn on homophobia and transphobia sport. Roberts said he heard homophobic remarks on the field but he was heartened when, after he’d announced he was gay, the North Queensland Cowboys ma him pta.

“I have often been asked if I thought that more gay athlet would e out sport, and I have always said was jt a matter of time, ” Kopay says.

“I uld never have imaged that nearly 50 years later we would still have no openly gay athlet Ameri’s Big 4 sports (baseball, football, basketball and hockey). The top eight teams qualify for the was the only club planng to wear a pri jersey this Manly forward Ian Roberts, who the 1990s was the first high-profile gby league player to e out as gay, said he was not surprised by the players’ cisn. Sce Las Vegas Rairs fensive end Carl Nassib, 28, me out as gay earlier this week — the first active NFL player to do so — that appears to be the qutn many people have Vegas fensive end Carl Nassib is the first active NFL player to e out as GettyThere are two ways to nsir this very simple two-word rponse.

WHAT MEANS TO BE GAY RUGBY LEAGUE

The posive view, as exprsed to me by several rears, is that people are so fortable wh the LGBT muny that they don’t feel a need for someone to “e out” them, I say thank you, although sense unrplays the unnecsary shame and guilt most suffer when g to terms wh their negative posn is that such a public claratn about someone’s private life is self-dulgent and someone tweeted me earlier this week: “Why do gay people thk that people re about what you do behd closed doors I’m sick of this were [sic] everyone has to know who is gay I uldn’t give a sh how about keepg what your sexual preferenc are to yourself why do gay people have to tell everyone I’m special I’m gay.

Loadg“The other thg that held me back were the murrs of gay men Sydney, ” Roberts said, referrg to the spate of gay hate crim of the late 1980s and early 1990s when gay men were thrown off the cliffs at north and south head wh police turng a bld eye.

JACKSONVILLE JAGUARS' KEV MAXEN BE FIRST MALE COACH TO COME OUT AS GAY MAJOR U.S. SPORTS

“It was the worst-kept secret the game and when I went on the 1994 Kangaroo tour, I cid I was gog away as a gay man — that was , ” he said. ”I know several athlet who are gay but simply don’t feel the need to clare , although they certaly don’t hi their relatnships on social of the most heart-warmg moments I’ve ever seen this job me early 2008 when lleague Jsi Halloran returned om an terview wh diver Matthew Mcham, who openly talked about his relatnship wh his boyiend.