Campbell Johnstone: Former All Black hop g out will 'take away the stigma' of beg gay - BBC Sport

Contents:

• FORMER NEW ZEALAND GBY PLAYER CAMPBELL JOHNSTONE BE FIRST ALL BLACK TO E OUT AS GAY
• CAMPBELL JOHNSTONE: FORMER ALL BLACK HOP G OUT WILL 'TAKE AWAY THE STIGMA' OF BEG GAY
• CAMPBELL JOHNSON, FORMER ALL BLACKS PRO-RUGBY PLAYER, COM OUT AS GAY
• 20 YEARS OF GAY RUGBY NEW ZEALAND TO BE CELEBRATED ANNIVERSARY MATCH
• NEW ZEALAND GBY STAR CAMPBELL JOHNSTONE OUT AS GAY AFTER 'LIVG DOUBLE LIFE'
• NEW ZEALAND GBY LEGEND CAMPBELL JOHNSTONE BE FIRST ALL BLACKS PLAYER TO E OUT AS GAY
• NEW ZEALAND GBY UNN STAR BE FIRST ALL BLACK TO PUBLICLY E OUT AS GAY
• NEW ZEALAND GBY PLAYER CAMPBELL JOHNSTONE: "IN MY HEAD BEG GAY WAS NOT A PART OF THAT IMAGE"
• KIWI DOCUMENTARY EXPLOR CHALLENG FACED BY GAY GBY PLAYERS
• GAY RUGBY PLAYER CAMPBELL JOHNSTONE ON COMG OUT
• CAMPBELL JOHNSTONE PUBLICLY REVEALS SEXUALY, BE FIRST OPENLY GAY ALL BLACK
• NEW ZEALAND GBY LEGEND CAMPBELL JOHNSTONE OUT AS FIRST OPENLY GAY ALL BLACK AFTER 'LIVG A LIE'
• FIRST ALL BLACK NEW ZEALAND PLAYER OUT AS OPENLY GAY

FORMER NEW ZEALAND GBY PLAYER CAMPBELL JOHNSTONE BE FIRST ALL BLACK TO E OUT AS GAY

Former New Zealand gby player Campbell Johnstone beme the first All Black to e out publicly as gay, an terview wh TVNZ’s Seven Sharp on Monday.

“If I n be the first All Black that out as gay and take away the prsure and stigma surroundg the issue n actually help other people, ” Johnstone said. As New Zealand's only reprentative natnal gay and clive gby team, recently, the NZ Falns played a pose team the Bgham Cup 2022 held Ottawa, Ontar.

Former All Black Campbell Johnstone on g out as gayFormer New Zealand prop Campbell Johnstone hop to "take away the prsure and stigma" after beg the first All Black to e out as 43-year-old, who played three Tts 2005, cid not to e out publicly durg his playg reer but had told his iends and fay. "If I n be the first All Black that out as gay and take away the prsure and stigma surroundg the issue, n actually help other people, " add Johnstone. We want to be clear, no matter who you love, gby has your back, " add Zealand sports mister and former Deputy Prime Mister Grant Robertson, who is gay, also thanked Johnstone for "blazg this trail" and said his announcement was "a big moment".

CAMPBELL JOHNSTONE: FORMER ALL BLACK HOP G OUT WILL 'TAKE AWAY THE STIGMA' OF BEG GAY

"In November 2022, Atralian Isaac Humphri beme the send male basketball player to e out as gay while playg after Jason Colls, who me out April 2013. Alai Uned player Josh Cavallo is the only openly gay top-flight male profsnal footballer the world, havg e out as gay October 2021.

Meanwhile, May 2022, Blackpool forward Jake Daniels beme the first openly gay active male profsnal footballer the UK. A former member of the famed New Zealand natnal gby team has e out as gay. He told prenter Hilary Barry he was g out now to help other gay athlet stgglg the closet.

“If I n be the first All Black that out as gay and take away the prsure and stigma surroundg the issue n actually help other people, ” the 43-year-old said on Monday.

CAMPBELL JOHNSON, FORMER ALL BLACKS PRO-RUGBY PLAYER, COM OUT AS GAY

[spacer height=”20px”]Established 2013, the New Zealand Falns Rugby Football Club are Aotearoa’s premiere gay and clive gby unn and touch team wh the goal of enablg both aspirg and seasoned players to e together to participate and enjoy gby an open and supportive environment. [spacer height=”20px”]The NZ Falns RFC is one of two gay gby clubs New Zealand, an affiliate wh the New Zealand Rugby Unn (NZRU), and one of 75 worldwi member clubs of Internatnal Gay Rugby (IGR). AdvertisementAuckland’s gay gby team will travel to Wellgton for a game agast the Straight Ups Invatnal XV and mark the begng of gay gby New Zealand.

October’s game will mark 20 years sce the first match between two gay gby teams New Zealand and the world. The first game between two gay gby teams occurred south Wellgton October 1998. The publicy was about beg able to say y, we’re gay, but we also want to be part of somethg that’s very much a part of our untry’s culture.

Twenty years on and the need for gay gby teams is jt as strong, if not stronger than what was 1998. For most of the time sce that October 1998 game, the Falns remaed New Zealand’s only out gay gby team. That changed this year wh the formatn of the Canterbury Hero Christchurch, a signal of gay gby’s ntual rise across the untry.

20 YEARS OF GAY RUGBY NEW ZEALAND TO BE CELEBRATED ANNIVERSARY MATCH

The importance of gay gby New Zealand over the past 20 years has been two-fold. Speakg to exprs, Ronan Maoilchrn says that the first is obvly about provg a safe and supportive environment for gay men who love the game of gby unn but have prevly not felt fortable playg.

NEW ZEALAND GBY STAR CAMPBELL JOHNSTONE OUT AS GAY AFTER 'LIVG DOUBLE LIFE'

Maoilchrn not the close relatnship the Falns have wh the sport’s erng body, New Zealand Rugby and the approach NZR have towards makg gby New Zealand more gay clive. “Havg gay teams such as the Falns, who have a close relatnship wh NZR (New Zealand Rugby), n only be good for makg the game more clive.

Given the progrs ma over the past twenty years for gay gby New Zealand, ’s important to acknowledge the event that started all.

NEW ZEALAND GBY LEGEND CAMPBELL JOHNSTONE BE FIRST ALL BLACKS PLAYER TO E OUT AS GAY

“Markg the 20th anniversary of the first gby match between two gay gby teams NZ and the world is important for the club. We want to regnize and remember the guys who’ve led the way for gay gby NZ.

NEW ZEALAND GBY UNN STAR BE FIRST ALL BLACK TO PUBLICLY E OUT AS GAY

Campbell Johnstone said he was 'livg a lie' durg his gby reer wh the All Blacks and hop that g out as gay will help others a siar posnCampbell Johnstone has bee the first New Zealand All Black to e out as gayNew Zealand gby star Campbell Johnstone has bee the first All Black to e out as gay after admtg to "livg a double life" while playg. Johnstone me out as gay on the TVNZ's Seven Sharpe show on Monday night and hop to take the prsure away om others a siar suatn. He said: "If I n be the first All Black that out as gay and take away the prsure and stigma surroundg the issue n actually help other people.

" The tighthead prop said that his perceptn of what an All Black should be like ma hard for him to e out as gay durg his playg reer and led to him 'livg a double life'. Campbell Johnstone me out as gay on TVNZ's Seven Sharpe show New Zealand. Johnstone was open wh his fay over his sexualy and admted that they were not surprised when he me out as gay.

NEW ZEALAND GBY PLAYER CAMPBELL JOHNSTONE: "IN MY HEAD BEG GAY WAS NOT A PART OF THAT IMAGE"

New Zealand CEO Mark Robison says that Campbell Johnstone g out as gay will pave the way for others. New Zealand gby star Campbell Johnstone ma history after g out as the first gay All Blacks player.

KIWI DOCUMENTARY EXPLOR CHALLENG FACED BY GAY GBY PLAYERS

New Zealand gby star Campbell Johnstone has ma history after g out as the first gay All Blacks player. Rearch challeng 'misperceptns about the sexualy of female gby players' Photo by Matthew Lewis/Getty Imag New rearch nducted partnership wh Harlequs says that nearly half of women’s gby players say homophobic and sexist jok ter girls om playg the sport. Le Cowan-Dickie, Six Natns Review and Sckler’s Sna | RugbyPass Offload | Episo 21Le Cowan-Dickie, Six Natns Review and Sckler’s Sna | RugbyPass Offload | Episo 21The rults have been released ahead of Harlequs’ third-annual LGBTQ+ Pri-themed game FINDINGS: – 55 per cent of women and girls agreed that “many women feel unwele to play gby bee of the jok and negative language some people e about women”– 37 per cent heard homophobic slurs at their club the last year and 59 per cent heard sexist slurs and negative jok about women– 15 per cent reported they had been the victim of verbal homophobic abe at their club– 88 per cent said people “often” rrectly assume that they are lbians bee they play gby (15 per cent actually intified as gay or bisexual)– 79 per cent want negative banter about women to stop gby, and 80% want homophobic banter to stop (the earlier rearch by the Harlequs found 65% of men wanted sexist/homophobic banter to stop)Players were also terviewed as part of the rearch.

I feel as though my teammat n be their te selv whout fear of judgement om one another said, ” said Beth Evans, who is straight but who is attendg the Harlequs event to support her sister Jo, who is gay.

GAY RUGBY PLAYER CAMPBELL JOHNSTONE ON COMG OUT

“But when people make assumptns about women who play gby or tell homophobic jok harms everyone. Former All Blacks star Campbell Johnstone has bee the first New Zealand gby unn ternatnal to publicly e out as prop, who played three Tts for the All Blacks 2005, appeared on the TVNZ work’s One News channel after g out to his fay and said, via Fox Sports: “If I n be the first All Black that out as gay and take away the prsure, I gus, the stigma surroundg that whole issue then n actually help other people and then the public will know that there is one amongst the All Blacks.

In an exclive terview wh, the first openly-gay All Black gby player reveals why he hid his sexualy, the ntradictns of livg a double life, and how young athlet n break down the stereotyp.

Even after the man-mounta prop had played three tim for his natnal team, the mighty All Blacks, and bee a mastay of the untry’s top domtic men's si the Canterbury Csars, he wasn’t fortable g out as gay due to stereotypil attus of what a gby player should be. “There was this imprsn, which is not right, but was my head that beg gay was was not a part of that image. Then, January 2023, the 43-year-old cid to e out on a New Zealand TV show, makg him the first openly gay All Black.

CAMPBELL JOHNSTONE PUBLICLY REVEALS SEXUALY, BE FIRST OPENLY GAY ALL BLACK

One of the key reasons behd Jonstone’s revelatn was to te the public as to how nfg was to be a gay ele athlete. ” - Campbell Johnstone to month after Johnstone’s televisn terview, Czech footballer Jakub Jankto beme the hight-profile current male footballer to announce he is gay.

NEW ZEALAND GBY LEGEND CAMPBELL JOHNSTONE OUT AS FIRST OPENLY GAY ALL BLACK AFTER 'LIVG A LIE'

New Zealand's only gay and clive gby team has opened up on some of the prejudice s players face - cludg an opposn player who refed to shake their hands post-match after fdg out about their sexual refal left spectator and Auckland Universy screen productn stunt Nev Govdasamy flabbergasted. Now, the 27-year-old has ma a documentary foced on the New Zealand Falns, which explor the barriers faced by gay gby follows eight players om the Falns and their ach over the urse of their 2017 season. Govdasamy said although the players he terviewed felt other teams were generally rpectful, homophobic ments did get thrown around.

FIRST ALL BLACK NEW ZEALAND PLAYER OUT AS OPENLY GAY

"Why is acceptable to have homophobic ments as part and parcel of the game? It's not, and shouldn't be, " said a sport-mad gay man Govdasamy lov watchg fear of negative or homophobic ments means he avoids even holdg hands wh his partner on the sile.

Stewart said he faced homophobic remarks when he played gby durg PE lsons at school. "It would be like, 'Oh no don't let Cam play bee he'll touch you', or, 'Don't let him the scms bee he's gay'. "Last month, Johnstone beme the first All Black to e out publicly as gay, around a after llg time on his gby rponse to the announcement, he says, took him by surprise.

New Zealand gby stars Ruby Tui and Aaron Smh, among others, praised Johnstone for his bravery on social media, while sports mister Grant Robertson, who is openly gay, thanked him for "blazg this trail" and spirg "future generatns to be open, happy and fortable. "There are only a handful of openly gay men the profsnal gby referee Nigel Owens me out 2007, and two years later, former Wal ternatnal Gareth Thomas beme the first openly gay top-level male gby Owens and Thomas have spoken about experiencg suicidal thoughts as they stggled to e to terms wh their sexualy, while former Atralia ternatnal Dan Palmer, who me out as gay 2020, said he "routely numbed" himself wh a "heavy cktail of opids" durg his playg Johnstone is optimistic about gby's future. The Christchurch Hero are a gay and clive gby team – meang they are LGBT iendly – and are associated wh the Christchurch Rugby Football Club, which was formed 1863 and claims to be the olst football club New Zealand and the send olst gby club the world.