Gay Rugby Player Keegan Hirst: 'Athlet Shouldn't Be Forced to Come Out'

keegan gay rugby player

Keegan revealed he was gay five years ago, and retir as the only Brish player to have done so. | ITV News Calendar

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GAY GBY PRO OUT OF RETIREMENT TO TACKLE ‘THLY-VEILED HOMOPHOBIA’ SPORT

* keegan gay rugby player *

Gay gby player Keegan Hirst is endg his retirement after seven members of the Manly Warrgah Sea Eagl staged a boytt over an LGBTQ+ Pri jersey. Hirst, who beme the first Brish profsnal gby league footballer to e out as gay 2015, said his return to the sport was partly spired by seven members of Manly, a Sydney-based team, cidg they would rather fo a match than wear a top the lours of the rabow  July. “After the recent thly-veiled homophobia over a rabow shirt I thought: ‘How n I help wh visibily and cln?

Htg back agast the wave of homophobic his tweets were met wh, Hirst told one troll: “Reprentatn matters. What do mean to gay kids who want to play gby?

FIRST OPENLY GAY GBY LEAGUE PLAYER KEEGAN HIRST OUT OF RETIREMENT

Keegan Hirst says 's only a been a uple of month sce he admted to himself he was gay. Now he's bee the first Rugby League player to e out. * keegan gay rugby player *

Keegan Hirst, the first Brish gby league star to e out as gay, has reversed his retirement cisn wh the hope to play for the Batley Bulldogs for the rt of 2022.

“After the recent thly-veiled homophobia over a rabow shirt, I thought how n I help wh visibily and cln? And a lot of would be seen as beg MUCH “gayer” than a rabow on a jersey…. Hirst beme the first Brish profsnal gby league player to e out as gay 2015.

KEEGAN HIRST: RUGBY LEAGUE'S FIRST OPENLY GAY PLAYER REFLECTS ON RETIREMENT

Gay ex gby player Keegan Hirst has ridiculed the Manly 7 who chose to boytt a match over a Pri jersey. * keegan gay rugby player *

Gay sportsmen.

Homophobia sport. Vio report by Chris DawkRugby league player Keegan Hirst believ not much has changed for gay athlet sce he publicly spoke about his sexualy five years, who announced he is gay 2015, last week retired om the sport after 13 years as a profsnal. His ex wife ntacted Keegan's date om the show wh the newsPublished: 20:36, 23 Jul 2016Updated: 21:42, 23 Jul 2016KEEGAN Hirst’s ex wife has claimed the gay gby player had a boyiend when he appeared on Celebry First Dat.

Keegan fans like I am a ‘shame to the gay muny’, ‘shallow’ and ‘sperate’ my attempts to engage wh him. Batley Bulldogs pta Keegan me out as gay last year when he was married to Sara, wh whom he has two children. Image source, Richard SellersIt's only been a "uple of months tops" sce Keegan Hirst first admted to himself that he was gay.

KEEGAN HIRST: BEG GAY WAS NCEIVABLE TO ME

Rugby League player Keegan Hirst has e out as gay, makg him the first openly gay Brish player the sport. * keegan gay rugby player *

But now he is beg known as the first Rugby League star to e out, while still playg Batley Bulldogs prop told Newsbeat once " was nceivable for me to be gay" but now "I'm fortable my own sk. "I uldn't say [I was gay] my own head. "The separated father-of-two said: "As time went on and my marriage was terratg - maly bee of how I was behavg - I began qutng source, Richard SellersImage ptn, Hirst has two children aged seven and two"I suppose that's when I began to say 's bee you're gay.

KEEGAN HIRST: ‘I’M PROUD TO BE A GBY LEAGUE PLAYER AND I’M PROUD TO BE GAY’

" Eventually he had more of a problem wh keepg his sexualy secret than actually beg gay self: "I jt felt 'why should I sneak around and do all cloak and daggers? In June, Tom Daley told Newsbeat still "feels weird" sayg he has a boyiend spe gog public about his relatnship a year ptn, Tom still 'thks twice' when he talks about beg gayOn g out, Keegan says was "very strange the first time I said . "Image source, John GichigiImage ptn, In 2009, Gareth Thomas beme the first Rugby Unn player to e out as gayKeegan sists his marriage wasn't a sham: "I didn't always know I was gay.

""I love my wife, I thought I'd be wh her forever, " he says datg on the gay scene will be "all new to me.

"He says he don't f to the stereotype of what a lot of people thk a gay man is.

EX-GBY PRO SAYS THERE’S ‘GAYER’ THGS HAPPENG CHANGG ROOMS THAN RABOW-LOURED JERSEYS

"I'm still a manly man, that won't change bee I'm gay. “No matter who you are and what you do, beg gay shouldn’t get the way, ” he says. ”In 2015, Hirst beme the first openly gay gby league player Bra – Gareth Thomas was playg unn when he went public on his sexualy – while playg for Batley and sce then, his life has changed ways he never imaged.

“When I me out, I was clear that I didn’t want to go on a csa and be a gay in, a p-up, ” Hirst says.

“I jt wanted to be me – but almost immediately, I was gettg msag om guys who were married but knew they were gay, people who played sport but stopped bee they were gay and didn’t want to e out.

BRISH RUGBY PLAYER KEEGAN HIRST COM OUTHIRST IS GBY'S FIRST OPENLY GAY BRISH {FONT:NORMAL 800 1.2REM/1.2 "D BOLD",SANS-SERIF;TEXT-TRANSFORM:NORMAL;LOR:HER;DISPLAY:LE-BLOCK;PADDG-BOTTOM:6PX;POSN:RELATIVE;TEXT-TRANSFORM:UPPERSE;}{BACKGROUND:#89308A;BOTTOM:0;NTENT:'';DISPLAY:BLOCK;HEIGHT:2PX;LEFT:0;POSN:ABSOLUTE;RIGHT:0;-WEBK-TRANSN:ALL 0.2S EASE;TRANSN:ALL 0.2S EASE;WIDTH:100%;}{LEFT:51%;RIGHT:51%;WIDTH:0;}{FONT:NORMAL 800 1.2REM/1.2 "D BOLD",SANS-SERIF;TEXT-TRANSFORM:NORMAL;LOR:HER;DISPLAY:LE-BLOCK;PADDG-BOTTOM:6PX;POSN:RELATIVE;TEXT-TRANSFORM:UPPERSE;}{BACKGROUND:#89308A;BOTTOM:0;NTENT:'';DISPLAY:BLOCK;HEIGHT:2PX;LEFT:0;POSN:ABSOLUTE;RIGHT:0;-WEBK-TRANSN:ALL 0.2S EASE;TRANSN:ALL 0.2S EASE;WIDTH:100%;}{LEFT:51%;RIGHT:51%;WIDTH:0;}LIFEBY DAN AVERYAUGT 16, 2015/9:37 AMBY DAN AVERYAUGT 16, 2015 / 9:37 AM{"@NTEXT":","@TYPE":"NEWSARTICLE","HEADLE":"BRISH RUGBY PLAYER KEEGAN HIRST COM OUT","DATEPUBLISHED":"2015-08-16T13:37:05.000+0000","DATEMODIFIED":"2015-08-16T13:37:05.000+0000","IMAGE":{"@NTEXT":","@TYPE":"IMAGEOBJECT","WIDTH":1920,"HEIGHT":1080},"URL":","THOR":{"@TYPE":"ORGANIZATN","NAME":"LOGO TV"},"MAENTYOFPAGE":{"@TYPE":"WEBPAGE","@ID":"},"PUBLISHER":{"@TYPE":"ORGANIZATN","@ID":","NAME":"LOGO TV","URL":","LOGO":{"@TYPE":"IMAGEOBJECT"}},"CREATOR":"DAN AVERY","ARTICLESECTN":"LIFE"}{BOX-SIZG:BORR-BOX;PADDG:24PX 0;} A{LOR:#354A4E;-WEBK-TEXT-RATN:UNRLE;TEXT-RATN:UNRLE;} A:HOVER, A:FOC{-WEBK-TEXT-RATN:NONE;TEXT-RATN:NONE;} B, STRONG{FONT-WEIGHT:700;}RUGBY LEAGUE PLAYER KEEGAN HIRST HAS E OUT AS GAY, THE FIRST BRISH PLAYER THE SPORT TO DO {BOX-SIZG:BORR-BOX;PADDG:24PX 0;} A{LOR:#354A4E;-WEBK-TEXT-RATN:UNRLE;TEXT-RATN:UNRLE;} A:HOVER, A:FOC{-WEBK-TEXT-RATN:NONE;TEXT-RATN:NONE;} B, STRONG{FONT-WEIGHT:700;}“AT FIRST I ULDN’T EVEN SAY ‘I’M GAY’ MY HEAD, LET ALONE OUT LOUD. NOW I FEEL LIKE I’M LETTG OUT A LONG BREATH THAT I’VE HELD FOR A LONG TIME,” HIRST, 27, TOLD THE SUNDAY {BOX-SIZG:BORR-BOX;PADDG:24PX 0;} A{LOR:#354A4E;-WEBK-TEXT-RATN:UNRLE;TEXT-RATN:UNRLE;} A:HOVER, A:FOC{-WEBK-TEXT-RATN:NONE;TEXT-RATN:NONE;} B, STRONG{FONT-WEIGHT:700;}THOUGH HE STARTED BEG ATTRACTED TO MEN AT AROUND AGE 15, HE ADMS WAS HARD TO ACCEPT HIS SEXUALY GIVEN HIS BACKGROUND. “I HAD A WIFE AND KIDS. I’VE BEEN A BUILR, DOORMAN, WORKED FACTORI – I PLAY GBY. I TICK EVERY MACHO BOX. HOW ULD I BE GAY?"{BOX-SIZG:BORR-BOX;PADDG:24PX 0;} A{LOR:#354A4E;-WEBK-TEXT-RATN:UNRLE;TEXT-RATN:UNRLE;} A:HOVER, A:FOC{-WEBK-TEXT-RATN:NONE;TEXT-RATN:NONE;} B, STRONG{FONT-WEIGHT:700;}A PROP FOR THE BATLEY BULLDOGS, HIRST IS CURRENTLY SEPARATG OM HIS WIFE. HE TOLD THE MIRROR ONE OF THE REASONS HE ME OUT WAS BEE SHE BLAMED HERSELF FOR THE END OF THEIR {BOX-SIZG:BORR-BOX;PADDG:24PX 0;} A{LOR:#354A4E;-WEBK-TEXT-RATN:UNRLE;TEXT-RATN:UNRLE;} A:HOVER, A:FOC{-WEBK-TEXT-RATN:NONE;TEXT-RATN:NONE;} B, STRONG{FONT-WEIGHT:700;}THE RPONSE TO HIS NEWS HAS BEEN OVERWHELMGLY POSIVE—SOMETHG HIRST HONTLY DIDN'T {BOX-SIZG:BORR-BOX;PADDG:24PX 0;} A{LOR:#354A4E;-WEBK-TEXT-RATN:UNRLE;TEXT-RATN:UNRLE;} A:HOVER, A:FOC{-WEBK-TEXT-RATN:NONE;TEXT-RATN:NONE;} B, STRONG{FONT-WEIGHT:700;}“I THOUGHT I’D BE DISOWNED BY IENDS AND FAY BUT I HAVEN’T BEEN,” HE SAID. “THE SUPPORT OM MY TEAMMAT AND OTHER GBY LEAGUE PLAYERS HAS REALLY SURPRISED ME, ’S ALL BEEN POSIVE.”{BOX-SIZG:BORR-BOX;PADDG:24PX 0;} A{LOR:#354A4E;-WEBK-TEXT-RATN:UNRLE;TEXT-RATN:UNRLE;} A:HOVER, A:FOC{-WEBK-TEXT-RATN:NONE;TEXT-RATN:NONE;} B, STRONG{FONT-WEIGHT:700;}IN 1995, ATRALIAN RUGBY LEAGUE PLAYER IAN ROBERTS BEME THE FIRST PROFSNAL GBY PLAYER TO E OUT. HE WAS FOLLOWED BY WELSH RUGBY UNN STAR GARETH THOMAS {BOX-SIZG:BORR-BOX;PADDG:24PX 0;} A{LOR:#354A4E;-WEBK-TEXT-RATN:UNRLE;TEXT-RATN:UNRLE;} A:HOVER, A:FOC{-WEBK-TEXT-RATN:NONE;TEXT-RATN:NONE;} B, STRONG{FONT-WEIGHT:700;}H/T: {BOX-SIZG:BORR-BOX;CLEAR:BOTH;}{BOX-SIZG:BORR-BOX;MARG:0 TO;WIDTH:90%;M-WIDTH:288PX;MAX-WIDTH:1440PX;M-HEIGHT:194PX;}LATT NEWS

”Hirst dreamed of beg a gby player om a young age but beg a role mol for gay people was never his tentn.

KEEGAN HIRST : LE GBYMAN GAY A FAILLI SE SUICIR...

“I jt didn’t want to thk I was gay for que some time, ” he says. But John Kear, my ach at Batley, jt said: ‘It don’t matter to me if you’re gay, you’re my pta and that’s all that matters.

Photograph: Christopher Thomond/The GuardianHirst’s reer has gone om strength to strength sce g out. “But I’m proud to be me, I’m proud to be a gby league player and I’m proud to be gay. Keegan Hirst, who e out as gay 2015, was among those to share Penn’s disappotment.

“And a lot of would be seen as beg MUCH ‘gayer’ than a rabow on a jersey…”.

*BEAR-MAGAZINE.COM* KEEGAN GAY RUGBY PLAYER

First openly gay gby league player Keegan Hirst out of retirement - Attu .

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