Five proment sports personali who have e out as gay | Football | The Guardian

Contents:

• GAY CRICKETERS WON’T E OUT UNTIL ‘STIGMA’ IS KNOCKED FOR SIX, BOSS WARNED
• JOE ROOT PRAISED FOR STANDG UP TO HOMOPHOBIA AFTER TELLG WT INDI PLAYER: ‘DON'T E AS AN SULT. THERE'S NOTHG WRONG WH BEG GAY’
• STEVEN DAVI BEME THE FIRST OPENLY GAY PROFSNAL CRICKETER - AND HAS NEVER BEEN HAPPIER
• E GAY
• HEATH DAVIS BE FIRST MALE NEW ZEALAND CRICKETER TO E OUT AS GAY
• FIVE PROMENT SPORTS PERSONALI WHO HAVE E OUT AS GAY
• ATRALIAN CRICKETER JAM FLKNER REVEALS HE IS GAY ON HIS 29TH BIRTHDAY
• FORMER NEW ZEALAND PACER HEATH DAVIS PUBLICLY COM OUT AS GAY
• STEVEN DAVI: ENGLAND CRICKETER ANNOUNC HE IS GAY
• STEVEN DAVI REVEALS HE IS GAY
• ENGLAND WICKETKEEPER SAYS HE'S GAY
• 'BRAVE' CRICKETER DAVI REVEALS HE IS GAY
• RYANA MACDONALD-GAY

GAY CRICKETERS WON’T E OUT UNTIL ‘STIGMA’ IS KNOCKED FOR SIX, BOSS WARNED

After Jake Daniels beme England’s first pro male footballer to e out as gay more than three s, Schofield spoke of the need for more LGBTQ+ role mols cricket. Sign up to our ee sport newsletter for all the latt news on everythg om cyclg to boxgSign up to our ee sport email for all the latt newsJoe Root has been hailed as a “role mol” for standg up to alleged homophobic remarks durg the third Tt between England and the Wt Indi St Lucia. Steven Davi is the first cricketer to e out as gay and says footballers fear that qutn Updated: 23:53 BST, 4 May 2013 Steven Davi do not nsir himself brave.

JOE ROOT PRAISED FOR STANDG UP TO HOMOPHOBIA AFTER TELLG WT INDI PLAYER: ‘DON'T E AS AN SULT. THERE'S NOTHG WRONG WH BEG GAY’

But when the Surrey and England wicketkeeper beme the first profsnal cricketer to state publicly that he is gay he adms that he feared he would bee a figure of years later, the 26-year-old says he has never been happier. He is ntent his cisn and ready to rurrect his ternatnal the week that basketball star Jason Colls beme the first man playg a major Amerin team sport to clare that he was gay, Davi spoke to The Mail on Sunday about his own experience of openg up about his sexualy, his iendship wh pop star Sir Elton John — and his hope that one day soon a current profsnal footballer will follow his lead. ‘Elton would be on Skype to Johnny Depp and one time I walked to the sue and Elton was there havg ffee wh Coldplay, ’ said beme iends wh Sir Elton after the sger wrote to him followg his cisn to reveal that he was gay, the first top English cricketer to take the step.

STEVEN DAVI BEME THE FIRST OPENLY GAY PROFSNAL CRICKETER - AND HAS NEVER BEEN HAPPIER

Devastated: Davi (left) was cshed by the ath of Tom Maynard (centre) Pneer: NBA star Jason Colls me out, beg the first openly gay active player major sports 'They said seeg me do had given them strength to do and they were so much happier.

’VIEWS FROM OTHER SPORTSFOOTBALLVeteran gay rights mpaigner Peter Tatchell says the Football Associatn mt give a stronger and more public lead the game’s efforts to bat 92 Premier League and Football League clubs signed a ernment charter agast homophobia last year, and the thori are phg the clubs to adopt more active Tatchell, who has lobbied the FA for actn agast for more than 20 years, says the are ‘low-key and almost visible mov and not real actn’ add: ‘The FA should be givg a stronger, more public lead.

(pictured below: Robbie Fowler apologised for gay tnts he directed at Graeme Le Sx) WOMEN'S SPORTEngland pta Casey Stoney believ women’s football has a far more mature attu to homosexualy than the men’s game.

E GAY

Men’s football remas the last major team sport the UK wh no openly gay players, whereas the women’s game has a number of high-profile lbian of them, 30-year-old Stoney, 30, has won 109 ps for England and not enuntered any hostily, and she believ is time for men’s football clubs and fans alike to take rponsibilty for changg ‘prehistoric’ attus.

‘Havg spoken to a lot of male profsnal players, the one issue that keeps croppg up is the amount of grief an openly gay player might get om fans, ’ she says. ‘Homophobia was rife society not so long ago, but I believe the man and woman on the street have changed their thought procs — and is time football ught up, pecially the men’s game. ’(below left) Casey Stoney, who says men's clubs need to change prehistoric attus RUGBY UNIONOpenly gay referee Nigel Owens received wispread support om si and outsi gby unn and has no regrets about his cisn to e out six years feared abe om fans and had even attempted suici, but spe some fans ‘ocsnally over-steppg the mark’ he sists his experience has been almost totally posive.

HEATH DAVIS BE FIRST MALE NEW ZEALAND CRICKETER TO E OUT AS GAY

‘I agonised over whether to e out bee back then there were no openly gay sportsmen or women profsnal gby or any other team sports, ’ he said.

FIVE PROMENT SPORTS PERSONALI WHO HAVE E OUT AS GAY

’Owens has spoken to gay footballers who are nsirg gog public about their sexualy and believ is a only matter of time before someone tak the step.

ATRALIAN CRICKETER JAM FLKNER REVEALS HE IS GAY ON HIS 29TH BIRTHDAY

Most viewed playersBornApril 14, 2000, BedfordBattg StyleLeft hand BatBowlg StyleRight arm MediumE Gay Career StatsBattg & FieldgFormatMatInnsNORunsHSAveBFSR100s50s4s6sCtStFC34601172914529. Former New Zealand Tt player Heath Davis has bee the untry’s first male ternatnal cricketer to publicly speak about beg, 50, played five Tts and 11 one-day ternatnals for the Black Caps between 1994 and 1997 and was known as an timidatg, if nsistent, pace s after his Tt but, Davis publicly revealed his sexualy for the first time, an episo of the documentary seri Scratched: Aotearoa’s Lost Sportg first ternatnal male cricketer to e out publicly was the former England wicketkeeper Steven Davi was durg Davis’s first tour to England 1994 when he started to really disver himself, he told The Spoff, though he had told his mother at an early age he was gay. There was nothg to tie to, if you know what I mean, ” Davis entered his first gay relatnship when he was 27 years old, while playg for Wellgton, but he was reluctant to appear public as a uple.

When an offer of a ntract me om Auckland, Davis saw an opportuny to move away om the cy he did not felt fortable beg out the uple ma the move to Auckland, Davis told his new team’s manager he was gay, which was passed on to his team members and “didn’t seem to be that big an issue” is now on a new journey – one that exists tensn wh his sexualy.

Photograph: supplied by Heath DavisAn ternatnal study on homophobia sport, released May, revealed that New Zealand gay and bisexual men were the most likely to keep their sexualy secret both youth and adult sports, wh many sayg they feared bullyg om teammat and discrimatn om ach and than half of all participants believed team sport is more homophobic than the rt of New Zealand society, while gay men were much more likely to believe this (69%) than anyone Wellgton Firebirds player, Stephen Mather, said Davis told him about his sexualy 1997, when there were no other outwardly gay men playg first class cricket at that time. Set up 1996 wh the aim of providg an “opportuny for people to watch and play cricket irrpective of genr or sexual orientatn, ” a world where beg gay wasn’t always accepted, Grac have bee a haven for people to e to terms wh their sexualy while also allowg them to play cricket. They’ve often e om societi where is illegal to be gay and the opportuny to meet like-md dividuals is somethg that Sam Nimaiyar, who was born India, has valued immensely.

FORMER NEW ZEALAND PACER HEATH DAVIS PUBLICLY COM OUT AS GAY

But for Chris Sherwood – the club’s prs and publicy officer – beg able to play cricket and not stand out for beg gay is one of Grac’ unique appeal. “This is the reason ’s difficult for people to e out bee there’s all this banter about gay beg lser somehow and to sudnly go ‘that’s me, I’m gay, ’ ’s que a difficult thg to do. Upon movg to London, a batn of his membership at Grac, his new gay iends and his ex-boyiend – whom he still creds for much of the posive aspects of his life – Modi cid to e out to the most important person his life – his dad.

In tradnal Indian culture, where arranged marriag are often the norm, to have an openly gay relative would harm a fay’s abily to attract potentially prospero spo. Whether is bee of tradnal attus or homophobic beliefs that still permeate through the untry as a rult of relig iologi, the numbers of openly gay people India is disproportnate to the populatn of India. It’s impossible to ppot a sgular actn that will fively change the perspective of the Indian populatn of the LGBT muny, but speakg to Modi and Nimaiyar, is clear that they believe that havg famo Indian ins – whether they are sports stars or celebri other walks of life – voice their support for the LGBT muny, is somethg that uld signifintly help gay people.

STEVEN DAVI: ENGLAND CRICKETER ANNOUNC HE IS GAY

” Not only was Root standg up on behalf of all gay cricket players, but subsequently srg a century after makg the ment, he did what the members at Grac’ have learnt to do – let the cricket do the talkg. The England cricket pta Joe Root has been wily hailed for his rponse to alleged homophobic abe after tellg an opponent that “there is nothg wrong wh beg gay” was out the middle durg the third and fal Tt Sat Lucia on Monday when he had a heated altertn wh the Wt Indi fast bowler Shannon the stump microphon did not pick up Gabriel’s ial remarks, he was spoken to about his language by the umpir at the time. On Tuday night he was charged wh a breach of the Internatnal Cricket Council’s of nduct for g “language of a personal, sultg, obscene and/or offensive nature” UK sport mister, Mims Davi, said Root served huge praise for immediately llg out the remarks and said his actns should “serve as an example to anyone who se homophobic abe” to do the same.

“The more players, fans, clubs and anisatns that stand up for equaly sport, the sooner we kick discrimatn out and make sport everyone’s game, ” she Davi, the former England wicketkeeper who me out as gay 2011, appld Root’s stance on Twter. However, his rponse to the bowler’s sledgg was immediate – wh Root tellg the Wt Indian bowler twice “Don’t e as an sult” before addg: “There’s nothg wrong wh beg gay. He played for more than 20 clubs, cludg a brief stt the US, and on his retirement 1998 he took his own life his flat London over fears he would be facg a lengthy jail sentence after claims of a sexual asslt on a 17-year-old Davi – CricketThe England wicketkeeper was the first and remas the only openly gay cricketer.

STEVEN DAVI REVEALS HE IS GAY

"Marta Navratilova – TennisThe ne-tim Wimbledon sgl champn beme the first openly homosexual tennis player 1981, shortly after she gaed US cizenship. In 2000, she was the recipient of the Natnal Equaly Award om the Human Rights Campaign, the natn's largt gay and lbian activist/lobbyg Thomas – RugbyThomas reprented Wal at both gby unn and gby league. The all-rounr had won the Man of the Match award the 2015 World Cup fal which Atralia had won by beatg New Zealand by 7 many sportspersons have e out the open the past revealg their gay inty, the number of such stanc cricket, pecially the men’s sectn, has been srce.

While Bnt and Sciver are one of only three engaged or married upl who play on the same ternatnal cricket team, there are gay players all over the sport. He told The Spoff that was durg his first tour to England 1994 when he started to really disver himself, although he had told his mother at an early age he was gay.

ENGLAND WICKETKEEPER SAYS HE'S GAY

I had systems and people place where I uld talk about the thgs but I didn't feel fortable, " Mr Davis revealed that he entered his first gay relatnship when he was 27 years old while playg for Wellgton, but the pair was reluctant to appear public.

And after shiftg, he then told his new team's manager he was gay, which was passed on to his team members and "didn't seem to be that big an issue". Notably, as per ESPN, the first ternatnal male cricketer to publicly e out as gay was the former England wicketkeeper Steven Davi mentned this article. Davi, who told his fay he was gay five years ago and has enjoyed their plete support, said was a huge relief to fally e clean and be hont wh the wir public.

'BRAVE' CRICKETER DAVI REVEALS HE IS GAY

Davi’s cisn to go public at such an early stage his profsnal life, is seen as hugely signifint breakg down taboos surroundg homosexualy profsnal sport. The Ssex bowler Alan Hansford, who played first class cricket between 1989 and 1992, is thought to be the only other openly gay player, but he did not go public about his sexualy until after his retirement. As part of Wisn Cricket Monthly’s seri on cricket’s diversy problem, Tanya Aldred nsir why the number of openly gay male profsnal cricketers England still stands at one, and looked to the women’s game for a more acceptg environment.

In Antigua and Barbuda, Barbados, Domi, Afghanistan and Sri Lanka, while male homosexualy is prohibed Grenada, Guyana, Jamai, St Kts and Nevis, St Lucia, St Vcent and the Grenad, Zimbabwe, Banglash and Pakistan.

Not fettg Pakistan’s home om home recent years and the hosts of this year’s IPL, the UAE, where the maximum penalty for homosexualy is ath, as is Pakistan.

RYANA MACDONALD-GAY

Chuck a knuckle ball of hyper-masculy to the mix, an tense team environment and, tradnally, largely male mentary and spectators, and you create a place where is difficult to be different, let alone gay. When Joe Root pulled Wt Indian fast bowler Shannon Gabriel up for homophobic language durg the St Lucia Tt 2019, felt like a watershed moment for Christopher Sherwood, a member of the Grac CC – the world’s first gay cricket club. “It felt very important as a perfect example of how to rpond to sual homophobia and a great example of role mollg, as historilly people may have feared speakg out as they uld be perceived as potentially homosexual.

He was sanctned unr the player of nduct but, later 2019, the ICC pulled all s anti-discrimatn legislatn to one anti-discrimatn which specifilly prohibs a wi range of behavur, cludg homophobia.