The urageo journey of Ian Roberts, gby league's first openly gay player | Rugby league | The Guardian

Contents:

• THE URAGEO JOURNEY OF IAN ROBERTS, GBY LEAGUE'S FIRST OPENLY GAY PLAYER
• COREY PARKER: GAY PLAYERS STILL FEEL THE NEED TO HI NRL AND ’S TIME TO DO BETTER
• DISMANTLG STEREOTYP: 10 INSPIRG GAY RUGBY PLAYERS AND PERSONALI
• LESTER’S NICK MCCARTHY OUT AS GAY AND THANKS CLUB FOR THEIR SUPPORT
• GAY RUGBY LEAGUE PLAYER SAYS HE'S SEEN MUCH 'GAYER' THGS IN SPORTS CHANGG ROOMS
• DAN PALMER, FORMER PRO GBY PLAYER, OUT AS GAY TEAR-JERKER OP-ED
• RUGBY LEAGUE PLAYERS ATRALIA TO BOYTT KEY MATCH OVER GAY PRI JERSEY
• 10 GAY RUGBY PLAYERS WHO MA THEIR COME OUT
• DAN PALMER PRAISED AFTER BEG FIRST WALLABI PLAYER TO E OUT AS GAY
• ALAI UNED MIDFIELR JOSH CAVALLO BE FIRST CURRENT A-LEAGUE MEN PLAYER TO PUBLICLY ANNOUNCE HE'S GAY
• RUGBY ATRALIA STRIK ALLIANCE WH ATRALIA'S GAY AND CLIVE RUGBY CLUBS

THE URAGEO JOURNEY OF IAN ROBERTS, GBY LEAGUE'S FIRST OPENLY GAY PLAYER

Aborigals, Polynians, Melanians and Southern European migrants provid the game’s first diversy om s Anglo-Celtic base and the terlopers were accepted if they plied wh the and “pped sweet” had no place for homosexual men and to be labeled gay was a slur implyg weakns. And that’s the way remaed until a pneer smashed the stereotype, beg the game’s first openly homosexual player, a precursor, a full 20 years before Keegan Hirst, the Batley Bulldogs player who this weekend beme the first Brish player to do likewise.

“Until Ian Roberts me out we thought all gay guys were weak, ” says Mar Fenech, the former South Sydney Rabbohs pta and Roberts’s team-mate. His father Ray was his bt iend and was openly speful about anythg gay he saw on televisn. Stereotyp mean ls thkg and for the league muny, surround by a ep emotnal moat, there was no way he uld be tough and father always advised him to “go for the biggt guy” and, crippled by a life nial, he uld sublimate his rage and claw back self-worth by excellg at everythg physil, cludg was all a smokcreen for a new phase of his life, glorly gurated at Sydney gay pub The Exchange.

“I had a sh of eedom and belongg and saw my first role mols, livg openly as gay men and women.

COREY PARKER: GAY PLAYERS STILL FEEL THE NEED TO HI NRL AND ’S TIME TO DO BETTER

Roberts would nvce them that he was gog to “50-50 clubs”, further throwg them off the trail by paradg wh betiful “girliends” at club 1984, an unlikely hero emerged for 19-year-old Roberts the form of New South Wal premier Neville Wran, who passed a law crimalisg homosexualy.

DISMANTLG STEREOTYP: 10 INSPIRG GAY RUGBY PLAYERS AND PERSONALI

”It was the same year that Bronski Beat’s tortured g out anthem Smalltown Boy stormed world dancefloors, crystallisg the horror experience which a young suburban man is bashed for attendg a gay club and disowned by his father. Eventually old school Souths ach Gee Piggs nonted Roberts about his sexualy, pleadg wh him to stop gog to the gay clubs. Early the 1989 season a gossip em wrten unr a nom plume appeared the Sun Herald statg Roberts had been spotted a gay club.

In the followg game Roberts was baed by Bulldogs players and openly vilified by fans, the thought of a gay player fuellg the passns of the wilst Jack, pictured after a brawl wh Roberts 1991. Roberts was bone tired om pretendg, but they both advised him to keep a fay secret until after his years later Roberts tormented gby league media and fans further by agreeg to a nu shoot Blue, a new gay magaze, but did not fively say he was gay.

LESTER’S NICK MCCARTHY OUT AS GAY AND THANKS CLUB FOR THEIR SUPPORT

Many the muny viewed Roberts’s g out as a way to save liv, particularly wh high rat of gay teen suici blamed on a lack of posive role mols. Roberts appreciated the honty but uld not buy to the belief that the fans and sponsors would not tolerate a gay man.

Peter FzSimons the Sydney Morng Herald was clear on the impact of the announcement: “Roberts is not the first gay footballer, but the first wh the urage to live openly. “It mt have been difficult for him to adm he’s gay, om a tough town wh zero tolerance, ” he says.

”Moments and events accumulate to create change and as the first gay ntact sport player to e out durg a reer, Ian Roberts ss wh sports diversy pneers Jackie Robson and Marta Navratilova. I n only image how mt feel to be a gay gby league player today’s tly pas me to thk that wh our game, those players still feel a need to hi. Yet gay players and the LGBTQI+ muny more broadly … that’s one group we’ve mostly left alone.

GAY RUGBY LEAGUE PLAYER SAYS HE'S SEEN MUCH 'GAYER' THGS IN SPORTS CHANGG ROOMS

I n only speak for myself, but if a guy me out my team and said, ‘I’m gay’, personally I wouldn’t give a sh. If the young men who are refg to play wh rabow strip on a jersey later have a child who is born gay, do they disown them? Image the stris that uld be ma terms of unrstandg and acceptance, not jt wh gby league but wir years, the NRL have had a float at Sydney’s Gay and Lbian Mardi Gras.

DAN PALMER, FORMER PRO GBY PLAYER, OUT AS GAY TEAR-JERKER OP-ED

That we n help end the cycle of gay people havg to hi themselv away, and all the emotnal damage that would be groundbreakg. Former Manly forward Ian Roberts, who the 1990s was the first high-profile gby league player to e out as gay, said he was not surprised by the players’ cisn. In light of recent ntroversy regardg homophobic slurs by Israel Fol, we thought we would she a light on 10 fluential gay gby personali.

RUGBY LEAGUE PLAYERS ATRALIA TO BOYTT KEY MATCH OVER GAY PRI JERSEY

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.

10 GAY RUGBY PLAYERS WHO MA THEIR COME OUT

Here’s a list of ten notable gay gby players and how they are shapg the game today. The very first high-profile gby player to ever e out to the public as gay is former Atralian ternatnal Ian Roberts.

Even though Ian Roberts may have been the first high-profile player to openly adm beg gay, Keegan Hirst was the first to ever do while still active. Currently a Wakefield Try prop, Hirst has bee one of the most notable gay athlet, earng himself a startg role after signg a ntract wh the League si 2016. Although he never played gby at a profsnal level, Mark Bgham has bee an inic figure for gay gby players and sportspeople around the world.

Known for his heroics durg the September 11 attacks, Bgham was a robt send-row man who played for the gay-clive San Francis Fog RFC. The Mark Kendall Bgham Memorial Tournament, simply known as the Bgham Cup, is a biennial gay gby unn tournament which was held for the first time 2002. Thomas publicly me out 2009 and has sce scribed his experience as a secretly gay player, revealg how the social prsure and stereotyp pose a signifint challenge for many athlet today.

DAN PALMER PRAISED AFTER BEG FIRST WALLABI PLAYER TO E OUT AS GAY

The Welshman is also a TV personaly and a voted activist for the LGBT e, wng “Gay Sports Personaly of the De” at the Stonewall awards ceremony London back 2015. The top eight teams qualify for the was the only club planng to wear a pri jersey this Manly forward Ian Roberts, who the 1990s was the first high-profile gby league player to e out as gay, said he was not surprised by the players’ cisn.

The Lester scm-half Nick McCarthy has e out as gay, and thanked ach Leo Cullen and Stuart Lanster for their “unbelievable” support.

Photograph: Ryan Byrne/Inpho/ShutterstockFellow Lester player Dunne revealed his bisexualy last year, around the same time Nassib announced he was gay and a few months before Atralian Cavallo ma headl across the world by sharg his news.

ALAI UNED MIDFIELR JOSH CAVALLO BE FIRST CURRENT A-LEAGUE MEN PLAYER TO PUBLICLY ANNOUNCE HE'S GAY

Last month, Blackpool’s Jake Daniels beme the first UK-based male footballer to e out as gay sce 1990. A former English gby league star has rpond to the recent LGBTQIA+ jersey saga engulfg the Manly Sea ex-player Keegan Hirst says 's rather ironic that the group are boyttg wearg the pri k bee he's seen 'what go on changg rooms' and 'would be seen as beg MUCH gayer' than simply wearg a rabow jersey for a AlamyThe Manly Sea Eagl have ma headl across the world this week after releasg their 'Everyone League' jersey – unfortunately, though, wasn't for the right was meant to be a posive move to drive clivy soon turned sour when several players threatened to boytt their next game after refg to wear the club’s rabow Aloiai, Jason Saab, Christian Tuipulotu, Josh Schter, Hmole Olak’atu, Tolut Koula and Toafofoa Sipley have been named as the players qutn and will subsequently miss their next fixture after beg stood down on relig saga hasn't pated anyone volved a particularly pleasant light wh both the players and the club self g unr fire.

A number of big-name figur have had their say on the matter, cludg the NRL's first and only openly-gay player Ian Hirst, who me out as gay 2015 durg his time the UK Super League, has h out at the Sea Eagl players. ”Another Twter er then rpond, sayg: "To me there is no such person as a gay person. Gay people are equently ostracised, ridiculed, beaten and even killed simply for beg gay.

Dan Palmer, a profsnal gby player who once peted for the Atralian natnal team, has e out publicly as gay. It’s a powerful mt-read story that foc on givg the rear a glimpse to the emotns and mental state of a gay athlete locked a closet wh the key seemgly thrown away.

RUGBY ATRALIA STRIK ALLIANCE WH ATRALIA'S GAY AND CLIVE RUGBY CLUBS

He se Palmer’s story as simultaneoly a lson about the negative impact of homophobic language sports, as well as hopeful spiratn for others. Seven players om an Atralian Natnal Rugby League (NRL) team will boytt a key champnship match this week over their team's cisn to wear a gay pri jersey, promptg cricism om the club's first openly gay Manly Sea Eagl's one-off jersey has rabow strip and a rabow llar - place of the regular whe sectns - to support LGBTQ cln sports, and the club planned to e for one game agast Sydney Aloiai, Jason Saab, Christian Tuipulotu, Josh Schter, Hmole Olak’atu, Tolu Koula and Toafofoa Sipley are the players standg down for Thursday's match, which uld prove pivotal to the club's chanc of makg the NRL fals.