Craig Maxwell-Keys: Premiership gby referee me out as gay via WhatsApp - BBC Sport

rugby union referee gay

Openly gay gby referee Nigel Owens might never have achieved his inic stat if he’d had gone ahead wh plans for a chemil stratn.

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

Premiership referee Craig Maxwell-Keys says the gby work has been supportive after he me out as gay via WhatsApp. * rugby union referee gay *

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. "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.

In 2007, the Mynyddcerrig-native shocked the sports world by g out as gay. 6 In 2007 Owens shocked the sports world by g out as gayCred: SWNS:South Wt News Service. It's such a big taboo to be gay my le of work, I had to thk very hard about bee I didn't want to jeopardise my reer.

A GAY REF IN A MACHO SPORT. "It's such a big taboo to be gay my le of work, I had to thk very hard about bee I didn't want to jeopardise my reer, " he nfsed.

WHO IS GBY REF NIGEL OWENS? WELSHMAN BRAVELY ME OUT AS GAY, FOUGHT BULIMIA AND OVERME SUICI

* rugby union referee gay *

"When I beme a referee, beme clear that there was nobody the sport who was gay. "Although that’s not to say that the sport is openly homophobic. Owens knew he was gay his late teens.

‘I NSIRED CHEMIL STRATN,’ SAYS GAY GBY REFEREE NIGEL OWENS

There are many great gay profsnal gby players and personali. The players have bee a bean of light bee they overme the stereotyp. * rugby union referee gay *

Rugby referee Nigel Owens is one of the most proment gay men sport. As an openly gay figure one of the most mascule of sports Nigel Owens is a rary – but he might never have achieved his inic stat gby unn if he had gone ahead wh plans for a chemil stratn. “I didn’t want to be gay, ” Owens, who me out 2007, told CNN.

GAY RUGBY REFEREE

“I actually went to the doctor at one stage to see if I uld be chemilly strated any way, if would get rid of me beg gay. They n’t tell other people they’re gay bee they’re fightg themselv. However, he believ the mcular world of gby unn is way ahead of other global sports when to acceptg gay stars, although Gareth Thomas beme the first profsnal player to open up about his sexualy as recently as 2009.

“It annoys me sometim when people say gby is homophobic. He’s om Wal, his name is Nigel Owens and he’s openly 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. 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. "'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.

GAY REFEREE REQUTED TO BE STRATED

"But the fear I had was a gay ment to me by a player on the field that I'd have to al wh.

Nigel Owens has said he was "not surprised" to hear that homophobic language was allegedly ed by a former Welsh Rugby Unn (WRU) employee to refer to the former gby unn referee told Sky News that he is nfint the alleged cint "would have been alt wh" had the WRU been ma aware of . Mr Owens, who me out as gay 2007, says that gby "has changed" s attus towards members of the LGBTQ+ muny - but that there is still "a lot of work to be done" the specific claims of homophobic language ma about him, Mr Owens said: "There are dividuals or mori wh anisatns, wh sport, wh our fai, wh our society, who maybe are jt not nice people, who e that language rogatory to people... "Martyn Lewis, a referee until 2016, told BBC Wal that he rells hearg a lleague repeatedly refer to Mr Owens as "the gay boy".

The allegatn me after a BBC Wal Invtigat programme revealed allegatns of misogyny, sexism, racism and homophobia wh the unn's chief executive officer, Steve Phillips, rigned the aftermath of the documentary. Mr Owens said the challenge for anisatns is to ensure that they "al wh (homophobic language)" and enurage people not to "stand by and say nothg".

DISMANTLG STEREOTYP: 10 INSPIRG GAY RUGBY PLAYERS AND PERSONALI

MaltiA gby ternatnal referee revealed that he vised a doctor and requted the removal of his tticl after realizg that he was said that the prsure he enuntered to ntrol the gby world cup fal 2015 was nothg pared to when he me to accept the fact that he was a homosexual referee Nigel Owens suffered om bulimia and tried to m suici as he nsired beg gay as somethg “totally strange”.

Owens, the first gay referee who ntrolled a high level gby match, revealed his sexualy 2007.

45-year old Owens add that he was prepared to do everythg to appear as a “normal” person the ey of reunted that when he vised a doctor, he told him: “I don’t want to be gay.

THE ONLY GAY ON THE PCH

”Owens told his mother he was gay when he was 34 years old. In light of recent ntroversy regardg homophobic slurs by Israel Fol, we thought we would she a light on 10 fluential gay gby personali. 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.

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. 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.

*BEAR-MAGAZINE.COM* RUGBY UNION REFEREE GAY

Gay referee requted to be strated .

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