Ben Cohen opens up about beg a gay in: It's excg to bridge the gap between gay and straight people - Mirror Onle

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.

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.

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

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.

BEN COHEN'S JOCKSTRAP BENEFS GAYS

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.

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

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