Gay Rugby Player & Bobsledr Simon Dunn Dead at 35

Contents:

• GAY PRI MUNICH (CSD MüNCHEN)
• JOG THE WORLD'S FIRST GAY GBY TEAM CHANGED MY LIFE. SO I MA A FILM ABOUT
• TACKLG HOMOPHOBIC ATTUS: THE STRAIGHT MEN WHO PLAY FOR GAY GBY CLUBS
• THE DEFIVE RANKG OF THE WORLD'S HOTTT GAY RUGBY PLAYERS
• MUNICH GAY MAP
• HUNKY STAR OF GAY GBY MOVIE ‘IN FROM THE SI’ NFIRMS HE IS “NOT STRAIGHT”
• NEW FILM G TO AMAZON PRIME SHOWS HOW THE WORLD’S FIRST GAY GBY CLUB SAVED LIV AND SMASHED STEREOTYP
• LIST | 5 GAY RUGBY STARS WHO ARE OUT AND PROUD

GAY PRI MUNICH (CSD MüNCHEN)

Gay Rugby teams already exist Germany Berl (The Bisers) and Cologne (The Cshers), and other untri, they're growg like wildfire, (take a look at the IGR webse if you don't believe me). The LGBTQ* scene Munich has a long history: as well as beg one of the first ci to hold Christopher Street Day celebratns (the German and Swiss equivalent to Gay Pri), the Munich-based polil party Rosa Liste was the first gay and lbian electoral group Europe to take up seats on a lol uncil, the 90s.

Although there are not as many specifilly gay bars and clubs here as there were the 1980s and '90s, there are several venu the area which always attract a good crowd. Wednday is generally known as “gay day”, when the area is buzzg wh young people and the bar is open for the eveng at the Diversy Café, a queer meetg place for young people and adults aged up to 27. Nearby Aroma Kaffeebar hosts the After Work gay night om 6 pm on the first Tuday of every who liv for happy hour and a breakfast of Weißwurst (Bavarian veal ssage) should fely pay a vis to Bar Zur Ferwache.

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

Though there are always gay and lbian clubbers here, the venue also holds two monthly events which are pecially geared towards the LGBTQ* scene: Playground and well as the many clubs which are part of Munich's LGBTQ* scene, there are also var regular club nights which take place different venu around the cy. Although is not explicly a gay venue, the club is extremely LGBTQ* you're lookg for lbian club nights, you uld head to DJan Delight, for example – though the crowd here is a ltle olr.

TACKLG HOMOPHOBIC ATTUS: THE STRAIGHT MEN WHO PLAY FOR GAY GBY CLUBS

Munich's first Christopher Street Day took place 1980, when a small polil para of 150 gay men and 30 lbian women marched wh plards through the cy before headg to the beer garn at the Chischer Turm (Che Tower) for drks. The event is anised by Sub (Schwul Kommunikatns- und Kulturzentm München/Gay Communitns and Cultural Centre Munich), the Munich Lns' Club and the Fom Homosexualät, and tak place the Oberangertheater. The big Faschg party day is Tuday, when gay and lbian partygoers ngregate at the Viktualienmarkt food market to celebrate at the “entrance” to the Glockenbachviertel district – where the Altstadtrg meets Reichenbachstrasse.

Another highlight of the year is the Pk Christmas gay and lbian Christmas market, where visors n expect to enjoy mulled we, bratwurst and Christmas mic, as well as Schlager mic shows, drag artists and a prosec bar. The Unrground Obersendlg is another great venue; 's a fetish club which attracts a somewhat younger crowd, and where parti ually have a motto and a drs Galerie Kunstbehandlung on Müllerstrasse ho a llectn of ntemporary gay art. Here, queer people were reclaimg their place on the pch – an arena they grew up beg told they didn’t belong Israel Fol began postg “hell awas homosexuals” on social media I realised I had to tell the story of the club – and my own story.

THE DEFIVE RANKG OF THE WORLD'S HOTTT GAY RUGBY PLAYERS

There was the ocsnal homophobic sledge, but over time the Steelers won the rpect of the straight burly Brish men bee not only did they beat them on ocsn, they showed them that we’re all pretty much the forward to me takg my mera to Amsterdam to film the club at the Bgham Cup, the world cup of “rabow” gby.

It was only when Israel Fol began postg “hell awas homosexuals” on social media that I realised I had to tell the story of the club – and my own like Dan Palmer, I too have Fol to thank small part. ”Although he is straight, Traer feels a nnectn to the gay muny, havg been raised by gay parents, and after givg away petive boxg due to an jury he saw an opportuny to redisver his love of sport. At that age, they don’t even know what they’re sayg and ’s hard to rrect a child and try to expla to him why llg somethg he don’t like gay is not appropriate, bee he hasn’t even learnt the Schmz actn for Kgs Cross Steelers.

As a rult, has tradnally rerced an orthodox form of twentieth-century masculy that is lked to those who are whe, middle class, able-bodied, and, most important to this analysis, heterosexual (Symons, 2009) is now wily regnized, however, that twenty-first-century sport is a social stutn that shap and impacts upon the liv of gay and lbian athlet too. Sce soclogist first began to qutn the role that sport plays the productn and reproductn of mascule inty the mid-1980s (Dunng, 1986), there was a slow progrsn om examg sport as a se of male ntrol over women, to regnizg the tersectn between sport and sexualy that rults om the largely heteronormative and homophobic culture of profsnal sport the 1990s and the first of the twenty-first century (Rowe, Markwell, & Stevenson, 2006) was this hospable perd of time that gave rise to sexual orientatn-segregated sportg spac for gay men.

MUNICH GAY MAP

The Gay Gam, while spired by the Olympic Gam, were troduced to foster cln rponse to the “apparent racism, sexism, natnalism, homophobia and elism” prent the mastream gam (Symons, 2009, p. Concerng the foc of this chapter, gby, the first soclogil vtigatn occurred the Uned Kgdom by Price and Parker (2003) and they found the existence of the untry’s first gay club (formed 1995) was prcipally anized around pg perceived or actual homophobia of mastream new Millennium brought chang attus toward homosexualy, not only to society, but also to mastream sport (Anrson, 2014). Exemplifyg this shift empirilly, the first prehensive vtigatn of the experienc of gay mal playg on ostensibly heterosexual teams was nducted by Anrson 2005, and he found that matters had begun to change.

This was a fdg that was affirmed by yet further outlook upon the gay male athlet by straight men 2011 (Anrson, 2011), has been repeatedly shown that heterosexual athlet, generally, are creasgly acceptg of homosexualy (Anrson, Magrath, & Bullgham, 2016; Anrson & McCormack, 2015; Bh, Anrson, & Carr, 2012) reason for this acceptance has to do wh changg attudal disposn toward gay men and changg masculy among heterosexual mal. Anrson (2009) has argued that an clive masculy is now the norm for “Whe, middle class men; both si and outsi of sport” rather than the “domeerg, homophobic behavurs and attus of orthodox masculy”. 347) was the first to e the term “clive masculy” to scribe mascule performanc that view hegemonic masculy as unsirable wh a willgns to embrace femy “ls ncerned wh migatg homosexual spicn through homophobia and heterosexism”.

HUNKY STAR OF GAY GBY MOVIE ‘IN FROM THE SI’ NFIRMS HE IS “NOT STRAIGHT”

There is also evince for creasg societal acceptance of gay athlet and a softeng of media attus toward gay male athlet both the Uned Kgdom and Uned Stat wh a shift toward clive masculy (Cleland, 2014, 2018; Kian & Anrson, 2009) and MasculyRugby, which Dunng (1986, p. Given the ndns, is unsurprisg to fd that gby has been regnized as enablg a culture that is pervasive wh homophobia and misogyny (Muir & Sez, 2004; Price & Parker, 2003). In this manner, twentieth-century gby players nsolidated their masculy wh gby servg to privilege prence of gay players the hypermascule, physil gby environment may be the ultimate subversn of the myth of gay men beg effemate and un-mascule (Symons, 2010), a siar manner to the challeng to tradnal nstctns of femy that female players prent (Wright & Clarke, 1999).

This is bee the volvement of gay players a space that has been a fundamental source of heterosexual male power unrm masculy and challeng the boundary between gay and straight mal and ultimately the perceived differenc between men and women as a whole (Anrson, 2002) example, former Welsh ternatnal player, Gareth Thomas—who is one of the most well-known and rpected players Welsh gby history (McGivern & Miller, 2017; Zhu, 2016)—me out December 2009, to an “overwhelmgly supportive” rponse (McCormack & Anrson, 2010, p.

His rerd as one of the most succsful players the sport, bed wh his mascule appearance and physil playg style were certaly ntrary to the mythil reprentatns of gay mal and may expla the posive rponse. McCormack and Anrson (2010) intified that was primarily the (olr, heterosexual) ach who ma e of homophobic disurse an attempt to build masculy their (younger) players. Th, there has been a softeng of the culture associated wh playg gby, driven by younger players g through the system who are creasgly rejectg, if not challengg the prevly accepted e of homophobic disurse that is ed by olr members of the gby muny.

NEW FILM G TO AMAZON PRIME SHOWS HOW THE WORLD’S FIRST GAY GBY CLUB SAVED LIV AND SMASHED STEREOTYP

Price and Parker (2003) found that the overridg reason for players jog one gay gby team was that the clive club offered a “safe and iendly sportg environment” (Price & Parker, 2003, p. 118) and a haven for those who had been exclud or ostracized om the mastream gby their analysis, Price and Parker (2003) examed the Kgs Cross Steelers Rugby Football Club, an amatr gby club based London and the self-claimed world’s first gay gby club. The number of gay gby clubs around the world has steadily grown, spurred by the creatn of The Internatnal Gay Rugby Associatn and Board (IGRAB) Ireland, the first gay gby team was found 2003.

Atralia’s first gay gby club, the Sydney Convicts have been embraced by the cy’s gby muny wh s founr Andrew Purchas award the Orr of Atralia medal that regniz outstandg achievement and service by Atralians. Fdg participants for this rearch was not difficult as the number of clive men’s gby teams has grown om ls than a dozen clubs one ago to eighty-four clubs the Uned Kgdom and Wtern Europe as regnized by and registered wh the Internatnal Gay Rugby Board. Semi-stctured terviews of ten players om each team occurred alongsi, participant observatn and wrten rpons to a participant-requted qutnnaire provid sight to the ratnale as to why the men seek to bee members of the nearly all gay men clive clubs.

As one gay player said wh a lgh, “They jt don’t know they’re gay yet” the nature of clive club members who participated this rearch we opted to exclu heterosexual members of the clubs (only five heterosexual players were intified over the urse of the rearch). RultsGay men’s participatn sport, general, and gby football, particular, has been the object of rearchers’ tert for years (Anrson, 2002, 2011; Bnier & Brownell, 2012). What is unique, however, is the growg number of clive gay men’s sports teams which were, ostensibly, begun to promote the sport of gby among an overlooked and unrreprented populatn.

LIST | 5 GAY RUGBY STARS WHO ARE OUT AND PROUD

Intertgly, the promotn of the sport at the natnal level the Uned Kgdom lags far behd the grassroots anizg of clive gay men’s teams begun jt over twenty years ago London (, 2016). Ined, only has been the last five years that gay men’s clive teams have begun to ga a foothold gby, albe still somewhat on the borrs and not the mastream of the gby world.

The purpose, rather, was to explore via a ground theoretil approach the possibly changg stcture of gby the Uned Kgdom as relat to the rise clive gay men’s gby teams and their impact on the sport England and beyond. Anrson has repeatedly argued and shown that while homophobia is rapidly creasg, as mori, gay men will always exist wh some cultural i of homophobia, or at least heteronormativy (Anrson, 2009). That fdg alone mak this rearch novel: This is not the experience of gay men clive clubs prevly (Price & Parker, 2003) addn, the nature of masculi as pertas to the social, cultural, and temporal experience of many of the participants was examed but did not bee a central foc of this rearch.

Instead, our thematic dg found three new areas of tert this vtigatn: (1) the social pal sought by and gaed by many participants on clive men’s gby clubs, (2) clubs’ prence for many gay men as a “safe haven”, and (3) for some gay men their participatn wh the clive gby club was merely a hobby and a means for them to meet other gay men wh siar terts sport. He later wanted to expla that he unrstood that not only his fellow clive men’s gby teammat saw him as a gay man and member of the club, but that when he wore his Hampshire jersey on non-gby days while walkg or travelg around town other townspeople “probably knew” he is gay.