LGBT+ History Month: Super League referee Jam Child speaks publicly about beg gay - BBC Sport

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
• CRAIG MAXWELL-KEYS: PREMIERSHIP GBY REFEREE ME OUT AS GAY VIA WHATSAPP
• RYAN ATK: FROM LMAN TO CHAMPN - FIRST OPENLY GAY REFEREE ON EXPERIENC
• VIO: PREMIER LEAGUE REFEREE OUT AS AN OPENLY GAY MAN
• NRL GRAND FAL REFEREE MATT CECCH REVEALS HE'S GAY AND SAYS 'S A NON-ISSUE LEAGUE THE DAYS
• JAM CHILD: SUPER LEAGUE REFEREE HAPPY WH REACTN AFTER SPEAKG PUBLICLY ABOUT BEG GAY
• LIST | 5 GAY RUGBY STARS WHO ARE OUT AND PROUD
• GRAYSON GOODW RECEIV 26-WEEK BAN FOR GAY SLUR POSTED TO HIS TWTER ACUNT
• DISMANTLG STEREOTYP: 10 INSPIRG GAY RUGBY PLAYERS AND PERSONALI
• RUGBY LEAGUE REFEREE HAPPY WH REACTN AFTER SPEAKG PUBLICLY ABOUT BEG GAY
• I'M GAY, CLAR LEADG LEAGUE REFEREE

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. 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.

LGBT+ HISTORY MONTH: SUPER LEAGUE REFEREE JAM CHILD SPEAKS PUBLICLY 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.

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

"Child says he's also received homophobic abe durg gam that has been "specifilly directed" at him and not other officials or players. "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.

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

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.

RYAN ATK: FROM LMAN TO CHAMPN - FIRST OPENLY GAY REFEREE ON EXPERIENC

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. "I've always been gay, but I didn't know until I was 25, " Cecch says.

VIO: PREMIER LEAGUE REFEREE OUT AS AN OPENLY GAY MAN

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.

NRL GRAND FAL REFEREE MATT CECCH REVEALS HE'S GAY AND SAYS 'S A NON-ISSUE LEAGUE THE DAYS

"'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.

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.

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

"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.

Ryan Atk has refereed four Natnal League gam this season, most recently Dagenham & Redbridge's w agast Alrshot on 16 November"I got a lot of people jt pattg me on the back and sayg 'well done, don't matter that you are gay'. "In Augt 2017, Ryan Atk beme the first man refereeg England's profsnal leagu to e out as then, he has gone om workg as an assistant referee the English Football League to refereeg the Natnal League this nng the le to beg the man the middle, he has been nomated has been named as one of Stonewall's Sport Champns for the chary's Rabow Lac mpaign, which started on Friday and is aimed at tacklg homophobia sport, Atk spoke to the BBC's LGBT Sport Podst and says he hop that others n follow his footsteps. "'Still work to be done'Wybe goalkeeper Ryan Allsop reported alleged abe to referee John Bby at half-time their w agast Tranmere RoversMany refere workg English football n speak of the sults they are exposed to om the stands, and even as recently as the past week, there was an alleged cint of homophobic abe a League One occurred durg Tranmere's match agast Wybe and led to a man beg arrted.

And if we haven't even achieved that, then homophobia football is trailg behd. "'The culture is slowly changg'Atralian gby unn thori end Israel Fol's ntract over a social media post which he said "hell awas" gay peopleSiar problems exist other sports too. Earlier this year, Atralian gby unn thori end Israel Fol's ntract over a social media post which he said "hell awas" gay England forward Billy Vunipola was later warned by his club si Saracens about his behavur after fendg Fol's actns.

LIST | 5 GAY RUGBY STARS WHO ARE OUT AND PROUD

Meanwhile, no profsnal footballer the Uned Kgdom has yet e out as gay, a suatn Atk is hopeful will said: "It n sometim be slightly dishearteng to thk that there are other people who are LGBT who don't feel that 's the right time for them or have the nfince to e out. "Stonewall's Sport Champns 2019Amaz LeThi (bodybuilr)Charlie Mart (racg driver)Corne Humphreys (sprter)John Dickson-Lilley (Paralympic skier)Lizzie Williams (wheelchair racer)Michael Gunng (swimmer)Philippa York (cyclist)Ryan Atk (football referee)Tom Bosworth (race walker)Beth Fisher (former hockey player and sport journalist)Huw Ware (PDC darts referee)Buildg a dialogueWh the 2022 World Cup Qatar - a untry where homosexualy is illegal - fast approachg, Atk says his experienc at last year's World Cup Rsia gave a flavour of what to expect. Football referee Jam Adck speaks to the BBC's LGBT Sport Podst"I'm very appreciative of the fact that I'm an openly gay man football.

"Adck has worked as a fourth official the Premier League'People know I'm gay and jt accept - I'm fortunate for that'As a child of the '80s and '90s, Adck was ed to hearg the same tired stereotyp - that people who loved sport uldn't be gay as, who is om Long Eaton Derbyshire, didn't e out until he was 27 - but his experienc wh the game have been nothg but posive. And, to be hont, there's been tert om lleagu sayg, 'I'm proud of you Jam, that you're able to be openly gay sport, ' bee they know the barriers that are still place.

GRAYSON GOODW RECEIV 26-WEEK BAN FOR GAY SLUR POSTED TO HIS TWTER ACUNT

"They're fully supportive and don't change the way they are around me or the way they speak to me bee they thought I was a heterosexual guy, and now they fd out I'm a gay guy.

"I don't need to wear a T-shirt sayg: 'I'm Jam Adck and I'm a gay guy. "I've not had any homophobic abe thrown at me, and I n't tell you a story where I've had to bat or overe that.

"To e out as gay or not e out as gay, you have to choose that as a person and not as a ref.

DISMANTLG STEREOTYP: 10 INSPIRG GAY RUGBY PLAYERS AND PERSONALI

I'm not refereeg bee I'm gay, I'm refereeg bee I'm refereeg a game of football - so jt treat me as a normal human beg. "That's where my fay, my iends, and my football lleagu have been so supportive - bee don't matter that I am gay and volved sport, and refereeg the Football League. 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.??

“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.

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

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. Cecch be the first NRL official or player sce Roberts 1995 to clare he is gay. "Like a lot of people, I thought to be gay you had to be feme, you had to go to nightclubs and you had to be the scene, and I was never to that, " said Cecch, who has refereed 116 NRL gam and four Tt match.

"I n hontly say I've never, ever heard or been lled anythg to do wh beg gay on the field, " Cecch said. "I'd be very surprised if I was the only gay person gby league.

I'M GAY, CLAR LEADG LEAGUE REFEREE

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.