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
• ‘MY OWN ATH FELT PREFERABLE TO ANYBODY DISVERG I WAS GAY,’ SAYS FORMER GBY PLAYER DAN PALMER
• CAMPBELL JOHNSTONE: FORMER ALL BLACK HOP G OUT WILL 'TAKE AWAY THE STIGMA' OF BEG GAY
• LESTER’S NICK MCCARTHY OUT AS GAY AND THANKS CLUB FOR THEIR SUPPORT
• U.S. PRO GBY PLAYER DEV IBAñEZ OUT AS GAY
• 'MY OWN ATH FELT PREFERABLE TO ANYBODY DISVERG': FORMER WALLABY DAN PALMER OUT AS GAY POWERFUL LUMN
• CAMPBELL JOHNSTONE PUBLICLY REVEALS SEXUALY, BE FIRST OPENLY GAY ALL BLACK
• SAM STANLEY IS FIRST ENGLISH GBY PLAYER TO E OUT AS GAY
• DAN PALMER: FORMER ATRALIA GBY PROP BE FIRST OPENLY GAY WALLABI PLAYER
• DAN PALMER PRAISED AFTER BEG FIRST WALLABI PLAYER TO E OUT AS GAY
• CAMPBELL JOHNSTONE BE 1ST ALL BLACK TO E OUT AS GAY
• FORMER ALL BLACK CAMPBELL JOHNSTONE PRAISED AFTER PUBLICLY G OUT AS GAY
• CAMPBELL JOHNSTONE: NEW ZEALAND PLAYER FIRST TO E OUT AS GAY
• JOG THE WORLD'S FIRST GAY GBY TEAM CHANGED MY LIFE. SO I MA A FILM ABOUT
• NEW ZEALAND GBY PLAYER CAMPBELL JOHNSTONE: "IN MY HEAD BEG GAY WAS NOT A PART OF THAT IMAGE"

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. Former Atralian ternatnal Dan Palmer, who has bee only the send male gby unn profsnal after Gareth Thomas to e out as gay, says he “routely numbed” himself wh a “heavy cktail of opids” as he stggled wh his sexualy durg his playg reer. It is not an exaggeratn to say my own ath felt preferable to anybody disverg I was gay.

Palmer add that part of the motivatn behd g out was the saga surroundg Israel Fol, the former gby unn player who was sacked by Rugby Atralia for an anti-gay social media post. Fol, a vout Christian, was dismissed for an Instagram post which he said “hell awas” gay people.

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

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.

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

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". "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.

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

Meanwhile, May 2022, Blackpool forward Jake Daniels beme the first openly gay active male profsnal footballer the UK. 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.

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. Dev Ibañez, who played profsnally Major League Rugby, has e out as gay social media posts, sayg he has “cid to embrace what I once felt embarrassed of and be proudly and shamelsly myself.

U.S. PRO GBY PLAYER DEV IBAñEZ OUT AS GAY

He created his Instagram acunt yterday as “thatgaygger, ” sce he is one of the very few openly gay pro gby players, past or prent. I am openly gay.

The fal goal beme “Once I sign a pro ntract I will be more vol and bee the first openly gay MLR [Major League Rugby] player. I had been separatg gby and my personal life/sexualy sce I was high school bee I didn’t wanna be known as “that gay gger”. I have met some credibly talented LGBTQ gby players over the years, many of whom were blackballed om playg a high level solely due to beg gay.

As of now I am the only openly gay gby player to earn a ntract wh an MLR si (At least I haven’t heard of any others, would love to talk wh anyone who has. So I will proudly ll myself “that gay gger” hop that one day won’t sound strange men’s gby.

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

And bee I know that I am much more than jt that gay gby player, and more than jt someone obssed wh gby. But I have also found high level men’s gby to still be far om a welg place for gay gby players. Here’s some pics of me and my partner livg our bt life together to make the homophob my iends list crge.

But I am nfint the homophobia will be drowned out by the valu, love and support that the gby muny is built upon. 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. (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.

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

"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. 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. "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.

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

Atralian A-League soccer star Josh Cavallo me out as gay an October vio posted to his social media, beg hailed as the first current male top-flight profsnal soccer player to publicly do so.

I'm a footballer and I'm gay. "He ntued: "Growg up I always felt the need to hi myself, you know, bee I was ashamed, and ashamed I'll never be able to do what I love and be gay. In a September terview wh USA Today, 25-year-old mor league baseball player beme the only active baseball profsnal to be out as gay!

Natnal Hockey League prospect Le Prokop me out as gay July, the first active player the league to e out. "I am proud to publicly tell everyone that I am gay, " he wrote a heartfelt msage on social media. The 28-year-old Natnal Football League player and Rairs fensive leman ma history when he me out as gay on Instagram durg Pri Month, beg the first veteran NFL player to e out as gay while signed to a regular-season ntract.

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

I jt wanted to take a quick moment to say that I'm gay. The Bachelor star and former football player (who was signed by the San Diego Chargers as an undrafted ee agent and was on the practice squad of the Oakland Rairs and the Philalphia Eagl) me out as gay April, sayg he had fally e to terms wh his sexualy and the "next step all of this was sort of lettg people know.

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

"He wanted everyone to know he was "still the same Colton everybody met on TV" and is "proud to be gay. Hiltz had prevly e out as gay while llege and has been a visible and affirmg prence for gay athlet the past. Corey Walsh, the 27-year-old pro BMX rir and Vans spokperson, said he isn't normally the type of person to "let people " on his personal life, but felt was important to e out as gay a March Instagram post bee "there are a lot of people still stgglg wh the same suatns" and he "jt wanted to let people know that they are not alone.

Champn long track speedskater Conor McDermott-Mostowy never hid beg gay om his fay, iends, and fellow athlet, but he also wasn't one to rate his locker wh rabow Pri flags eher. He ially feared negative stereotyp about gay male athlet but threw those ncerns asi after his two-tle performance at the U. Campbell Johnstone publicly reveals sexualy, be first openly gay All BlackProbabl ont row Campbell Johnstone (left), Derren Wbe and Clarke Dermody pack down durg the All Black trial won 37-32 by the Possibl at McLean Park, Napier New Zealand, Friday Jun.

Photo by Ross Land/Getty ImagRtersJan 30, 2023, 06:53 AMFormer New Zealand prop Campbell Johnstone has bee the first All Black to e out as gay, sayg on a televisn programme on Monday he had been "livg a lie" and leadg "a double life" before acknowledgg his sexualy. "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. We want to be clear, no matter who you love, gby has your back, " Robson Zealand Sports Mister and former puty Prime Mister Grant Robertson, who is gay, thanked Johnstone for "blazg this trail" and said his announcement was "a big moment".

CAMPBELL JOHNSTONE BE 1ST ALL BLACK TO E OUT AS GAY

England Sevens ternatnal Sam Stanley has bee the first English profsnal gby unn player to publicly e out as gay. "Stanley's cisn to make his sexualy public after Batley Bulldogs prop Keegan Hirst last month beme the first gby league player to openly e out as ternatnal Gareth Thomas was prevly the only openly homosexual gby player after he me out whilst playg for gby unn si Cardiff Blu , who ptaed Wal and the Brish and Irish Lns, went on to play for league si Csars before retirg, but Hirst was the first player to e out publicly whilst playg the 13-man, leadg referee Nigel Owens, who is due to officiate at the 2015 Rugby World Cup, me out 2007. Stanley add: "Millns of people are the suatn, even people who have been Lrence's (his partner) suatn and they are still married but are gay.

FORMER ALL BLACK CAMPBELL JOHNSTONE PRAISED AFTER PUBLICLY G OUT AS GAY

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. 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.

CAMPBELL JOHNSTONE: NEW ZEALAND PLAYER FIRST TO E OUT AS GAY

”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.

“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.

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

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. “If I n be the first All Black that out as gay and take away the prsure and the stigma surroundg that issue, then that n actually help people, ” Johnstone said of his cisn to e here to sign up for our newsletters.

WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP) — Campbell Johnstone, a prop who played three tts cludg two agast the Brish and Irish Lns 2005, has bee the first All Blacks gby player to e out as gay. New Zealand Rugby quickly supported Johnstone’s cisn to e out as gay, praisg him for “havg the urage to share his story and helpg create a more clive game. We want to be clear, no matter who you love gby has your back, ” he said a Zealand Sports Mister and former puty Prime Mister Grant Robertson, who is gay, said Johnstone’s announcement was a “big moment” and thanked him for “blazg this trail.

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

The former New Zealand gby player Campbell Johnstone has bee the first All Black to e out as gay, sayg he hoped to “take away the prsure and the stigma” of dog so publicly. Johnstone, 43, said Seven Sharp TV terview that he had told iends and fay “a long time ago” that he was gay. ”New Zealand’s sports mister, Grant Robertson, who is also gay, said Johnstone had blazed a trail for the natnal team – which is domant on the world stage, venerated at home and has bee a multi-billn dollar global brand.

The Black Ferns – the natnal women’s team – has multiple openly gay current and past players, cludg Louisa Wall, a former member of parliament who was part of the wng si at the 1995 Women’s Rugby World has been much rarer for men the sport’s top echelons to e out publicly.

In 2009, the former Wal pta Gareth Thomas beme the first openly gay profsnal gby unn player the world. 16, tied to the Bgham Cup, a biennial gay and clive gby tournament. ”New Zealand Rugby quickly supported Johnstone’s cisn to e out as gay, praisg him for “havg the urage to share his story and helpg create a more clive game.