10 Gay Rugby Players Who Ma Their Come Out - Disver Walks Blog

Contents:

• DAN PALMER PRAISED AFTER BEG FIRST WALLABI PLAYER TO E OUT AS GAY
• DISMANTLG STEREOTYP: 10 INSPIRG GAY RUGBY PLAYERS AND PERSONALI
• FORMER WALLABY DAN PALMER 'HUMBLED' BY SUPPORT AFTER G OUT AS GAY
• LESTER’S NICK MCCARTHY OUT AS GAY AND THANKS CLUB FOR THEIR SUPPORT
• HUGE SUPPORT FOR FORMER WALLABI PLAYER WHO HAS E OUT AS GAY
• DAN PALMER, FORMER PRO GBY PLAYER, OUT AS GAY TEAR-JERKER OP-ED
• INSPIRATNAL GAY ATRALIAN BOBSLEIGH STAR SIMON DUNN AD AT 35
• 'MY OWN ATH FELT PREFERABLE TO ANYBODY DISVERG': FORMER WALLABY DAN PALMER OUT AS GAY POWERFUL LUMN
• 10 GAY RUGBY PLAYERS WHO MA THEIR COME OUT
• FORMER WALLABI PROP BE FIRST ATRALIAN GBY TERNATNAL TO E OUT AS GAY
• YEARS AFTER G OUT, GAY ATHLET UPSET BY LACK OF CHANGE
• FORMER NEW ZEALAND GBY PLAYER CAMPBELL JOHNSTONE BE FIRST ALL BLACK TO E OUT AS GAY
• GAY RUGBY LEAGUE PLAYER SAYS HE'S SEEN MUCH 'GAYER' THGS IN SPORTS CHANGG ROOMS

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

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. 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.

DISMANTLG STEREOTYP: 10 INSPIRG GAY RUGBY PLAYERS AND PERSONALI

”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.

FORMER WALLABY DAN PALMER 'HUMBLED' BY SUPPORT AFTER G OUT AS GAY

“Atralian gby, and the gby teams which Dan played for, have been credibly supportive of the need to addrs homophobia. We need to addrs the disnnect between everyone’s sire to be clive and the actual experienc of gay players. In light of recent ntroversy regardg homophobic slurs by Israel Fol, we thought we would she a light on 10 fluential gay gby personali.

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

The players have bee a bean of light bee they overme stereotyp and other challeng faced by homosexual athlet way too often. In this article, we’ll name ten of the most notable gay gby personali, analyze their acplishments, discs how they are shapg the game today, and asss their impact on the overall perceptn of homosexual profsnal athlet around the world.

That beg said, due to s physily, gby is regard as a “manly” sport, which mak more difficult for gay players to publicly acknowledge their preference.

HUGE SUPPORT FOR FORMER WALLABI PLAYER WHO HAS E OUT AS GAY

At the same time, there are many misnceptns about this betiful sport, which has led to the margalizatn and targetg of gay players. Some high-profile stars like Israel Fol have recently ma headl due to potentially homophobic posts on social media.

DAN PALMER, FORMER PRO GBY PLAYER, OUT AS GAY TEAR-JERKER OP-ED

This is one of the ma reasons why reprentativ of World Rugby met wh the lears of Internatnal Gay Rugby (IGR) to help eradite homophobia and tolerance om the game. The very first high-profile gby player to ever e out to the public as gay is former Atralian ternatnal Ian Roberts. Even though Ian Roberts may have been the first high-profile player to openly adm beg gay, Keegan Hirst was the first to ever do while still active.

Currently a Wakefield Try prop, Hirst has bee one of the most notable gay athlet, earng himself a startg role after signg a ntract wh the League si 2016.

INSPIRATNAL GAY ATRALIAN BOBSLEIGH STAR SIMON DUNN AD AT 35

Although he never played gby at a profsnal level, Mark Bgham has bee an inic figure for gay gby players and sportspeople around the world.

Known for his heroics durg the September 11 attacks, Bgham was a robt send-row man who played for the gay-clive San Francis Fog RFC.

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

The Mark Kendall Bgham Memorial Tournament, simply known as the Bgham Cup, is a biennial gay gby unn tournament which was held for the first time 2002.

Thomas publicly me out 2009 and has sce scribed his experience as a secretly gay player, revealg how the social prsure and stereotyp pose a signifint challenge for many athlet today. The Welshman is also a TV personaly and a voted activist for the LGBT e, wng “Gay Sports Personaly of the De” at the Stonewall awards ceremony London back 2015. The Atralian former gby unn player Dan Palmer says his cisn to e out as gay was, part, motivated by a sire to break down often ntradictory stereotyp associated wh beg a ‘gby player’ or a ‘gay person’ the week sce his powerful lumn was published by the Sydney Morng Herald, Palmer has received hundreds of emails and msag om around the world, cludg om many people who have enuntered siar stggl wh their own btally open reunt tailed the mental health issu and dg problems he experienced, cludg feelgs that “my own ath felt preferable to anybody disverg I was gay” 32-year-old, 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 his lumn, Palmer wrote he had always felt fortable the gby environment, tegorisg his battle as one “primarily wh myself rather than wh obv external prsur or discrimatn” Guardian Atralia he scribed the issue as plited, regnisg the pcy of male players to have publicly intified as LGBTQI spe wir societal progrs.

10 GAY RUGBY PLAYERS WHO MA THEIR COME OUT

”Palmer also ced “the ignorance of Israel Fol”, and the damagg impact of the sacked Wallaby’s social media post claimg “hell awas” gay people, as a key driver his rolve to speak out.

The top eight teams qualify for the was the only club planng to wear a pri jersey this Manly forward Ian Roberts, who the 1990s was the first high-profile gby league player to e out as gay, said he was not surprised by the players’ cisn. The Lester scm-half Nick McCarthy has e out as gay, and thanked ach Leo Cullen and Stuart Lanster for their “unbelievable” support.

FORMER WALLABI PROP BE FIRST ATRALIAN GBY TERNATNAL TO E OUT AS GAY

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.

"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 mediaBut 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. 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.

”ProgrsMuch 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. Dan Palmer, a profsnal gby player who once peted for the Atralian natnal team, has e out publicly as gay. It’s a powerful mt-read story that foc on givg the rear a glimpse to the emotns and mental state of a gay athlete locked a closet wh the key seemgly thrown away.

YEARS AFTER G OUT, GAY ATHLET UPSET BY LACK OF CHANGE

He se Palmer’s story as simultaneoly a lson about the negative impact of homophobic language sports, as well as hopeful spiratn for others. Atralia’s first openly gay bobsledr has sudnly died aged 35 “after a rough year of personal loss” Dunn, who also played gby for the gay and clive Sydney Convicts team, spired the LGBTI muny wh his sportg feats.

Tragilly he was found ad Surry Hills, Sydney, on Saturday, his agent and the police, who was om Wollongong, moved to Canada to further his bobsleigh reer and beme the first gay man to reprent a untry at the eventually retired, but ma a eback 2021 an attempt to qualify for the 2022 Wter a bicep jury led him out of the terviewed Dunn 2020 while he was an ambassador for GiveOUTDay, a fundraisg event for LGBTI said at the time he was asked by a fellow gby player if he was “really gay” bee he was tacklg so hard.

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

But I see remarks like that as a chance to te people – and flatten a few people the procs, ” he told He had recently posted on Instagram about breakg up wh Felix his partner of five years, sayg had been a “rough year” met his partner London when he was playg for another gay gby team, the Kgs Cross Steelers. ”Dunn was an advote for the LGBTI muny and took on Israel Fol over his ntroversial claim that all gay people would go to hell.

”Dunn began playg gby when he was 17 Wollongong but told he stopped bee of the homophobia the sport.

Dunn was appalled when 2019 a meme began dog the rounds that ed him as an example of a “normal gay” who “don’t force upon you the fact they’re gay”.

GAY RUGBY LEAGUE PLAYER SAYS HE'S SEEN MUCH 'GAYER' THGS IN SPORTS CHANGG ROOMS

“Simon reprented all, he always said ‘I am not the spokman, I am jt a gay whe male tellg you about my experienc, and experienc om those wh whom I listened and learnt’. 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.