Nigel Owens: Rugby referee on retirement and beg gay sport

gay welsh rugby referee

I didn’t want to be gay. 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

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

There are many great gay profsnal gby players and personali. The players have bee a bean of light bee they overme the stereotyp. * gay welsh rugby referee *

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. 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.

TOP ENGLISH GBY REFEREE OUT AS GAY AND REVEALS THE SPIRATN HE DREW OM NIGEL OWENSCRAIG MAXWELL-KEYS IS ONE OF THE LEADG OFFICIALS THE GALLAGHER PREMIERSHIPWALONLEBOOKMARKSHARECOMMENTSSPORTBYANTHONY WOOLFORD16:21, 5 DEC 2019BOOKMARKENGLISH REFEREE CRAIG MAXWELL-KEYS (IMAGE: DAVID ROGERS/GETTY IMAG) GET THE LATT WELSH RUGBY NEWS ANALYSIS AND TERVIEWSMORE NEWSLETTERS SUBSCRIBEINVALID EMAILSOMETHG WENT WRONG, PLEASE TRY AGA LATER.MORE NEWSLETTERSWE E YOUR SIGN-UP TO PROVI NTENT WAYS YOU’VE NSENTED TO AND IMPROVE OUR UNRSTANDG OF YOU. THIS MAY CLU ADVERTS OM AND THIRD PARTI BASED ON OUR KNOWLEDGE OF YOU. MORE THANK YOU FOR SUBSCRIBG!WE HAVE MORE NEWSLETTERSSHOW ME SEE OURPRIVACY NOTICE SEE OURPRIVACY NOTICE&TIM;GROUP 28 GET THE LATT WELSH RUGBY NEWS ANALYSIS AND TERVIEWSINVALID EMAILSOMETHG WENT WRONG, PLEASE TRY AGA LATER.SIGN UPNO THANKS, CLOSEWE E YOUR SIGN-UP TO PROVI NTENT WAYS YOU’VE NSENTED TO AND IMPROVE OUR UNRSTANDG OF YOU. THIS MAY CLU ADVERTS OM AND THIRD PARTI BASED ON OUR KNOWLEDGE OF YOU. MORE &TIM;GROUP 28THANK YOU FOR SUBSCRIBG!

Openly gay gby referee Nigel Owens might never have achieved his inic stat if he’d had gone ahead wh plans for a chemil stratn. * gay welsh rugby referee *

Rugby has allowed to be who we are, so nobody uld say that gby is a homophobic sport. Image source, Athena PicturImage ptn, Nigel Owens me out 2007 and retired om refereeg ternatnal match 2020More people have spoken about alleged sexism and bullyg at the Welsh Rugby Unn wh claims homophobic language was ed about referee Nigel ex-lleague claimed the e of homophobic nam for Mr Owens went unchallenged the office. Nigel Owens told the BBC Newsnight programme the Welsh Rugby Unn need to vtigate any allegatns of homophobia, but add he had always felt supported by the pennt panel, led by Dame Anne Rafferty, lookg to the culture at the WRU is due to start work on Monday after a tumultuo few weeks which saw the unn's chief executive Steve Phillips follows a BBC Wal Invtigat programme last month and sce then BBC Wal has been ntacted by a number of former employe at the unn.

" Certa dividuals had 'too much ntrol'Martyn Lewis was a referee until 2016, overseeg Welsh Premiership gam and as assistant referee for regnal 55 year-old said certa dividuals wh the unn had too much ntrol and scribed hearg homophobic language wh a lleague repeatedly referrg to referee Nigel Owens as "the gay boy" source, Simon LathamImage ptn, Martyn Lewis said certa dividuals wh the unn had too much ntrolNigel Owens me out 2007 and retired om refereeg ternatnal match 2020.

"Nigel Owens told Newsnight he knew nothg about people g homophobic slurs about him wh the was "distrsg and very disappotg" to hear about such ments, he said. "There was nobody out [as gay] the macho world of gby.

DISMANTLG STEREOTYP: 10 INSPIRG GAY RUGBY PLAYERS AND PERSONALI

"From his experience, gby was a diverse sport, he said, but he add there would always be "a mory of people who are jt not nice people all walks of life" ptn, Nigel Owens, the first openly gay man to officiate at the hight level of the game, revealed his sexualy 2007Mr Lewis, who now liv Canada, said he tried to ll the person g homophobic language out but was never tackled at a more senr level. Welsh former gby ternatnal referee Nigel Owens has shared the homophobic abe he received a "hate" filled letter on social 51-year-old posted a picture of the letter sayg "unls we start llg out the kd of people nothg will change.

"Nigel Owens now ns a farm the Gwendraeth 'me out' as gay 2007 and went on to bee the first referee to reach a landmark 100 ternatnal tts 's now livg a lifelong dream of beg a farmer and workg as a TV letter sparked an outpourg of support for Owens om people on social mediaOne social media er lled the letter "pathetic and absurd" while dozens exprsed their "love" for the gby legend. In 2007, the Mynyddcerrig-native shocked the sports world by g out as gay. 6 In 2007 Owens shocked the sports world by g out as gayCred: SWNS:South Wt News Service.

NIGEL OWENS PREPAR TO BEE FIRST GAY MAN TO REFEREE RUGBY WORLD CUP FAL

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. Owens knew he was gay his late teens. Welsh gby referee Nigel Owens has vised Bournemouth Universy (BU) to talk about his experienc as a gay man gby, as well as the challeng he faced by keepg his sexualy secret.

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

The Welshman and world rerd holr for most gby tt match refereed, me out as gay 2007, and is the most pped referee the Rugby Football Unn (RFU). I’ve never been to universy at all, so I’ve e to do a talk on a b of everythg really, on my own experienc life and alg wh some difficult tim, alg wh adversy, alg wh mental health issu and cln as a gay man, as well. Nigel Owens is the only openly gay official top level gbyReferee Nigel Owens has weled the ban of two people for shoutg homophobic abe at him durg England's loss to New Welsh official, 43, who is the first openly gay man to referee at the hight level, said he would be willg to meet the supporters.

A send vtigatn is still ongog to a separate cint of alleged homophobic abe a different part of the ground. Homophobia 'is creepg to gby'The official, who is one of the assistant refere at Twickenham on Saturday for England agast Atralia, praised the RFU for g down hard on he said gby has bee "more accsible to people who are probably not tradnal gby supporters". The most difficult thg I ever had to do my life was acceptg I was gay.

"I've been there myself and I know they n tip you over the edge, I had a send chance, let's make sure that we don't put other people that suatn - bee there's no need for society and no need for was the only Welsh referee at the 2007 World Cup"People say that I've broken down barriers by beg a gay man sport, but the te hero here are the on who don't stand by, who stand up and brg to the attentn of the erng bodi. 2005: Appoted ternatnal refereeMay 2007: Com out publicly as gaySept 2007: World Cup but, takg charge of Argenta v GeiaNov 2007: Named gay sports personaly of the year by StonewallMay 2008 & 2009: Refere Heeken Cup falsSept 2011: Refere at World CupOwens was appoted an ternatnal referee 2005 and announced he was gay two years has sce officiated at the 2007 and 2011 World Cups, and was only the send man to referee two nsecutive Heeken Cup fals - 2008 and alertg the RFU, supporter Keh Wilson wrote a letter to the Guardian newspaperexternal-lk statg a group of supporters shouted "nasty, foul-mouthed, racist, homophobic abe" at the official durg England's 24-21 feat. England ach Stuart Lanster:"We have worked hard gby to get the re valu of the sport graed and there is no place for homophobic abe whatsoever.

GAY RUGBY REFEREE NIGEL OWENS ONCE CONSIRED CHEMIL CASTRATN

"Owens - who attempted suici before g out as gay - has been ced as an spiratn for the gay and lbian has prevly admted nsired qutg as a rult of the sometim vic ments ma by supporters. A leadg English referee has spoken for the first time about g out as gay and the spiratn he drew om Welshman Nigel Owens clarg his sexualy.

*BEAR-MAGAZINE.COM* GAY WELSH RUGBY REFEREE

10 Inspirg Gay Rugby Players and Personali .

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