Rugby Champ Ben Cohen Brgs His Wng Ways To The Small Screen In Patterns - Towleroad Gay News

Contents:

• BEN COHEN OPENS UP ABOUT BEG A GAY IN: IT'S EXCG TO BRIDGE THE GAP BETWEEN GAY AND STRAIGHT PEOPLE
• ANDY COHEN REVEALS HE'S THE ONLY GAY AND ONLY SGLE PARENT AT SON BEN'S SCHOOL
• BEN COHEN, RUGBY STAR AND GAY RIGHTS ADVOTE, WANTED A MALE 'STRICTLY COME DANCG' PARTNER
• BEN COHEN'S JOCKSTRAP BENEFS GAYS
• ANDY COHEN SAYS HE AND ANRSON COOPER HAVE BOND FURTHER OVER RAISG KIDS AS GAY DADS

BEN COHEN OPENS UP ABOUT BEG A GAY IN: IT'S EXCG TO BRIDGE THE GAP BETWEEN GAY AND STRAIGHT PEOPLE

The former England gby unn ternatnal player adms he was surprised by his "gay in" stat as he gears up to mark the ath of his father wh new anti-bullyg mpaignBen CohenHe was one of the world’s most fearsome gby players - a 6ft 3s powerhoe who helped England w the gby World Cup.

ANDY COHEN REVEALS HE'S THE ONLY GAY AND ONLY SGLE PARENT AT SON BEN'S SCHOOL

But today, as opposed to flyg down the wg at Twickenham, Ben Cohen is jt as at home at gay superstore Prowler London’s Soho. For spe beg straight, the former sportstar has bee an ternatnal gay in - helpg thoands of homosexuals and transgenr people break boundari both on and off the sports field. After his father’s ath, Ben set up The Ben Cohen StandUp Foundatn to bat bullyg of all typ cludg of people who might be lbian, gay, bisexual or transgenr.

If we ntue the nversatn to the negative effects of bullyg, whether that’s homophobia or bullyg schools, eventually will bee socially unacceptable. ” Dcribg how he began his work, Ben add: “I was pletely unaware of any gay followg until one day about seven or eight years ago, I got a msage out of the blue om a French lad, Lrence, om Paris.

Apparently I’d bee a gay in. “I started to hear their stori and realised that we were sufferg the same sort of pa and anguish but at the hands of other people - me wh what happened to my dad and the knock on effect that had on my whole fay, and them wh pg que often wh homophobia, ” he said. It was an excg prospect to actually make a difference and bridge that gap between gay and straight people.

BEN COHEN, RUGBY STAR AND GAY RIGHTS ADVOTE, WANTED A MALE 'STRICTLY COME DANCG' PARTNER

“The lik of Alan Carr, or Julien McDonald would be my iends regardls of whether they are gay or not. Sometim you hear people say ‘I’ve got a token gay iend’ or ‘I’d love a gay iend’ - but this is the sort of attu we need to change.

“It is all about that next generatn and teachg kids so they unrstand what gay means and the nnotatns of words like ‘homo’ and ‘faggot’ - that whole unrstandg.

Homophobia is the same place that racism was 20 or 30 years ago.

BEN COHEN'S JOCKSTRAP BENEFS GAYS

“I thk homophobia is still a problem everywhere. It is the last ‘ism’ - there are still trac of racism and sexism but there is further to go to stamp out homophobia.

Cohen has won a legn of gay fans sce qutg the sport to tackle homophobic bullyg full time. The gby ace set up his anti-bullyg chary StandUp 2006 and has ed his populary wh the gay muny to speak out about homophobia. Related: Gay bobsledr Simon Dunn addrs THAT photo of him.

ANDY COHEN SAYS HE AND ANRSON COOPER HAVE BOND FURTHER OVER RAISG KIDS AS GAY DADS

"I'm the only gay parent at Ben's nursery school and the only sgle parent, which is amazg, and I'm so grateful for our iendship bee Ben se Wyatt wh two dads, and Ben's other iend, Adrian, has two dads, " Cohen told Cooper. "My son has excellent gaydar, what n I say? Brish gby veteran and proment gay rights advote Ben Cohen planned to make his realy televisn but extra memorable by givg a same-sex twist, acrdg to reports.