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Contents:

• GAY GBY LEAGUE REFEREE LIFTS LID ON HOW G OUT AFFECTED OFFICIATG REER
• LGBT+ HISTORY MONTH: SUPER LEAGUE REFEREE JAM CHILD SPEAKS PUBLICLY ABOUT BEG GAY
• SUPER LEAGUE REFEREE JAM CHILD OPENS UP ON BEG GAY AND REVEALS VILE HOMOPHOBIC ABE
• JAM CHILD: SUPER LEAGUE REFEREE HAPPY WH REACTN AFTER SPEAKG PUBLICLY ABOUT BEG GAY
• CRAIG MAXWELL-KEYS: PREMIERSHIP GBY REFEREE ME OUT AS GAY VIA WHATSAPP
• VIO: PREMIER LEAGUE REFEREE OUT AS AN OPENLY GAY MAN
• LIST | 5 GAY RUGBY STARS WHO ARE OUT AND PROUD
• RUGBY LEAGUE REFEREE HAPPY WH REACTN AFTER SPEAKG PUBLICLY ABOUT BEG GAY
• DISMANTLG STEREOTYP: 10 INSPIRG GAY RUGBY PLAYERS AND PERSONALI
• GAY GBY LEAGUE REFEREE LIFTS LID ON HOW G OUT AFFECTED OFFICIATG REER
• GAY GBY LEAGUE REFEREE LIFTS LID ON HOW G OUT AFFECTED OFFICIATG REER
• GAY GBY LEAGUE REFEREE LIFTS LID ON HOW G OUT AFFECTED OFFICIATG REER
• SUPER LEAGUE REFEREE JAM CHILD OPENS UP ON BEG GAY AND REVEALS VILE HOMOPHOBIC ABE

GAY GBY LEAGUE REFEREE LIFTS LID ON HOW G OUT AFFECTED OFFICIATG REER

Gay gby league referee Jam Child has opened up on how revealg his sexualy publicly for the first time 2021 affected his officiatg reerJam Child beme the first Super League referee to announce he was gay 2021 Retired gby league referee Jam Child claims he 'felt more rpect' om players he officiated after revealg his sexualy.

LGBT+ HISTORY MONTH: SUPER LEAGUE REFEREE JAM CHILD SPEAKS PUBLICLY ABOUT BEG GAY

Child, 39, beme the first Super League referee to announce publicly that he was gay Febary 2021. Child wants to 'help te' people and enurage rpectSuper League referee Jam Child has not spoken publicly about his sexualy before - but this is not his 'g out' 's been a long time sce Child was '' - wh his fay, iends and refereeg lleagu all aware that he's an exclive terview for the BBC's LGBT Sport Podst, Child has bee one of the hight-profile nam gby league to open up about beg gay. "When I n out there and make a cisn, don't matter whether I'm gay or straight.

"Listen: The LGBT Sport Podst - The one wh Jam Child'If this helps te others, that's great'Child's cisn to talk about his sexualy is driven by a number of is still more than a month to go until the new Super League season starts, which means he n share his story whout worryg about overshadowg any actn on the there's also another many ele officials, Child gets plenty of abe - cludg some of a homophobic nature.

"I'm not sayg that's all to do wh my sexualy, but I certaly thk one, if not two of those, were homophobic. "Child says he's also received homophobic abe durg gam that has been "specifilly directed" at him and not other officials or players.

SUPER LEAGUE REFEREE JAM CHILD OPENS UP ON BEG GAY AND REVEALS VILE HOMOPHOBIC ABE

"By me speakg about this publicly, there n't then be a suatn where somebody is homophobic, but ni knowg I'm gay, " he says. One of gby league's top refere Jam Child has spoken ndidly for the first time about his sexualySuper League referee Jam ChildSuper League referee Jam Child has spoken publicly for the first time about his sexualy, and the homophobic abe he has received which has clud ath threats.

In an terview wh the BBC’s LGBT Sport Podst, Child has strsed that this is not his ‘g out’ story, wh his fay, iends and refereeg lleagu all aware that he's gay. “When I n out there and make a cisn, don't matter whether I'm gay or straight.

JAM CHILD: SUPER LEAGUE REFEREE HAPPY WH REACTN AFTER SPEAKG PUBLICLY ABOUT BEG GAY

He says his sire to talk about his sexualy has been driven by a number of factors cludg the homophobic abe he has received recent years. In some rpects when I have received homophobic abe at gam, ’s specifilly directed at me, ’s not directed at the other officials or some of the players.

“By me speakg about this publicly, there n't then be a suatn where somebody is homophobic, but ni knowg I'm gay. "'I didn't want to be the token gay referee'A reer as long as Cecch's don't e whout challeng, and some of his most memorable moments have been acpanied by ntroversy.

CRAIG MAXWELL-KEYS: PREMIERSHIP GBY REFEREE ME OUT AS GAY VIA WHATSAPP

"I've always been gay, but I didn't know until I was 25, " Cecch says. I didn't want to be known as 'Matt the gay ref', and to eher miss out on gam or be given gam bee I was the token gay referee.

VIO: PREMIER LEAGUE REFEREE OUT AS AN OPENLY GAY MAN

"'I feared havg to al wh homophobic abe on the pch'Cecch tablished himself as an NRL referee durg the 2000sCecch told his refereeg lleagu about his sexualy 2001, soon after his NRL but.

"But the fear I had was a gay ment to me by a player on the field that I'd have to al wh. Jam Child me out to his fellow refere 10 years ago but risted lls to go public until now; Child, who revealed he has been the target of ath threats and homophobic abe, broke his silence an effort to te people and enurage rpect. Super League referee Jam Child has exprsed his light wh the reactn after he spoke publicly for the first time about beg a gay man the sport.

LIST | 5 GAY RUGBY STARS WHO ARE OUT AND PROUD

Child, 37, addrsed the subject of sexualy an terview on the BBC's LGBT Sport Podst which he also revealed he has been the target of ath threats and homophobic Yorkshireman, who began refereeg Super League 2009 and has been on the Rugby Football League's ele panel for the last 11 years, says he broke his silence an effort to te people and enurage rpect, and has been pleased by the ial rponse. "Child says he was prompted to open up to his fellow refere followg an cint around 2010 which he was homophobilly abed by a ach and thought he was gog to be physilly asslted.

A few years later, former Leeds full-back Zak Hardaker, now wh Wigan, was given a five-match ban after beg found guilty of homophobic abe, allegedly llg Child a 'f*****g f*g' durg the Rhos' feat at Warrgton, which he later scribed as a heat-of-the-moment says he has had no ntact wh the unnamed ach sce and, although he told the BBC he did not believe the RFL handled eher of the s well, he thks lsons have been learned. Jam Child He said: "The uple of s I referred to were a long time ago and some rpects, I don't thk I ma easy for them bee I wasn't openly gay and there were tails I didn't necsarily want released. "Welsh gby unn referee Nigel Owens, ex-Wakefield prop Keegan Hirst, and former dual- wger Gareth Thomas have all e out publicly as gay and Child is hopg his ments will enurage more sportspeople to be thentic too.

RUGBY LEAGUE REFEREE HAPPY WH REACTN AFTER SPEAKG PUBLICLY ABOUT BEG GAY

Please e Chrome browser for a more accsible vio player Keegan Hirst spoke to Sky Sports about his journey gby league as a gay man as part of the 'Rabow Lac: My In' seri - watch the full episo On Demand Keegan Hirst spoke to Sky Sports about his journey gby league as a gay man as part of the 'Rabow Lac: My In' seri - watch the full episo On Demand Child is also hopg he will be treated fairly by fans when they return to gam later the year. Craig Maxwell-Keys explas a cisn to Exeter Chiefs' Jack YeandleProfsnal gby has ntually embraced morn technology - so 's no surprise that Premiership referee Craig Maxwell-Keys took a siar approach towards g out as gay.

DISMANTLG STEREOTYP: 10 INSPIRG GAY RUGBY PLAYERS AND PERSONALI

"Gunng over prejudice to chase Olympic dreamMaxwell-Keys drifted towards beg a match official by chance - he broke his wrist playg for Lichfield as a youngster and, while reverg om the jury, he enrolled on a refereeg and tly bten by the refereeg bug, he took charge at the Staffordshire Unr-12 Ftival at the age of 17 and worked his way up the ladr to bee a full-time referee urse, Maxwell-Keys is not the only openly gay gby referee - Nigel Owens, who me out 2007, is one of the sport's hight-profile officials and has featured at three World Cups. 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?

GAY GBY LEAGUE REFEREE LIFTS LID ON HOW G OUT AFFECTED OFFICIATG REER

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.

GAY GBY LEAGUE REFEREE LIFTS LID ON HOW G OUT AFFECTED OFFICIATG REER

Rugby has allowed to be who we are, so nobody uld say that gby is a homophobic sport.

In a highly unual but credibly posive move, a referee that has officiated at Premier League level right down to amatr league has e out as an openly gay far too long now, anyone nnected wh football has evintly kept their sexualy to themselv for fear of beg st asi and ignored, perhaps by team-mat and those the game more a day and age where all forms of discrimatn are owned upon, ’s hugely disappotg to fd that g out is still a big al for gay Liverpool set to sufferJam Adck was speakg to BBC Sport and was clearly – and rightly – proud to say he was an openly gay man workg of this moment, also appears that he hasn’t enuntered any ill will, showg that, perhaps, thgs are movg the right directn.??

GAY GBY LEAGUE REFEREE LIFTS LID ON HOW G OUT AFFECTED OFFICIATG REER

“I’m proud to be an openly gay man football. Now the referee is openg up for the first time about his sexualy, and beg gay the sport.

The hope will be of urse that, eventually, a player at the top level of the game will break the stigma and announce that they too are, Tom Daley, and former gby player, Gareth Thomas, are other high profile sportsmen who had both prevly announced their homosexualy publicly. 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.

Super League referee Jam Child has exprsed his light wh the reactn to his public revelatns over his, 37, addrsed the subject for the first time on the BBC’s LGBT Sport Podst which he revealed he has been the target of ath threats and homophobic Yorkshireman, who began refereeg Super League 2009 and has been on the Rugby Football League’s ele panel for the last 11 years, says he broke his silence an effort to te people and enurage rpect and has been pleased by the ial rponse. Former gby unn referee Nigel Owens me out as gay at the height of his reer (Ashley Wtern/PA)He said he recently began workg on the RFL’s cln and diversy workg group and that formed part of the reason for his cisn to e out.

SUPER LEAGUE REFEREE JAM CHILD OPENS UP ON BEG GAY AND REVEALS VILE HOMOPHOBIC ABE

”Child says he was prompted to open up to his fellow refere followg an cint around 2010 which he was homophobilly abed by a ach and thought he was gog to be physilly asslted. A few years later former Leeds full-back Zak Hardaker, now wh Wigan, was given a five-match ban after beg found guilty of homophobic abe, allegedly llg Child a ‘f***g f*g’ durg the Rhos’ feat at Warrgton, which he later scribed as a heat-of-the-moment says he has had no ntact wh the unnamed ach sce and, although he told the BBC he did not believe the RFL handled eher of the s well, he thks lsons have been said: “The uple of s I referred to were a long time ago and some rpects I don’t thk I ma easy for them bee I wasn’t openly gay and there were tails I didn’t necsarily want released. In light of recent ntroversy regardg homophobic slurs by Israel Fol, we thought we would she a light on 10 fluential gay gby personali.