Gay Rugby Player Campbell Johnstone on Comg Out

Contents:

• WORLD’S FIRST GAY GBY CLUB TURNS 20: ‘NO-ONE HAD SEEN PLAYERS LIKE BEFORE’
• 10 GAY RUGBY PLAYERS WHO MA THEIR COME OUT
• FORMER NEW ZEALAND GBY PLAYER CAMPBELL JOHNSTONE BE FIRST ALL BLACK TO E OUT AS GAY
• DISMANTLG STEREOTYP: 10 INSPIRG GAY RUGBY PLAYERS AND PERSONALI
• GAY GBY PLAYER DEV IBAñEZ & HIS BF JT CELEBRATED THEIR FIRST PRI TOGETHER, & WE HAVE MAJOR FOMO
• JOG THE WORLD'S FIRST GAY GBY TEAM CHANGED MY LIFE. SO I MA A FILM ABOUT
• THE URAGEO JOURNEY OF IAN ROBERTS, GBY LEAGUE'S FIRST OPENLY GAY PLAYER
• MEET GARETH THOMAS, FIRST GBY PLAYER TO E OUT AS GAY
• SAM STANLEY IS FIRST ENGLISH GBY PLAYER TO E OUT AS GAY
• FIRST OPENLY GAY GBY LEAGUE PLAYER KEEGAN HIRST OUT OF RETIREMENT
• GAY RUGBY PLAYER CAMPBELL JOHNSTONE ON COMG OUT
• U.S. PRO GBY PLAYER DEV IBAñEZ OUT AS GAY
• LESTER’S NICK MCCARTHY OUT AS GAY AND THANKS CLUB FOR THEIR SUPPORT

WORLD’S FIRST GAY GBY CLUB TURNS 20: ‘NO-ONE HAD SEEN PLAYERS LIKE BEFORE’

First gay gby club found 20 years ago. The first time Mark Bhell and his all-gay gby team led up agast a straight si, he was overe by a sense of his own masculy.

10 GAY RUGBY PLAYERS WHO MA THEIR COME OUT

For much of his life, the Brish lawyer had been told that beg gay somehow ma him ls of a man.

FORMER NEW ZEALAND GBY PLAYER CAMPBELL JOHNSTONE BE FIRST ALL BLACK TO E OUT AS GAY

Yet standg shoulr-to-shoulr wh his gay teammat, he felt liberated.

DISMANTLG STEREOTYP: 10 INSPIRG GAY RUGBY PLAYERS AND PERSONALI

“So I really enjoyed playg gby agast straight men, wh my gay teammat, bee for me kd of proved that we were jt as mascule as they were – that we n be jt as physil as they are. Bhell was one of the early players to jo the Kgs Cross Steelers, the world’s first gay gby club, which this year celebrat s 20th anniversary.

GAY GBY PLAYER DEV IBAñEZ & HIS BF JT CELEBRATED THEIR FIRST PRI TOGETHER, & WE HAVE MAJOR FOMO

What started when six iends met a bar north London 1995, wh the ia of formg a gay-clive gby team, has sce turned to a club wh over 150 members and three teams.

JOG THE WORLD'S FIRST GAY GBY TEAM CHANGED MY LIFE. SO I MA A FILM ABOUT

The Steelers have won the European petn for gay gby clubs, the Unn Cup, on four ocsns.

As the 2015 Rugby World Cup enters s fal stag, there are no openly-gay players the tournament. However, wily-rpected gay referee Nigel Owens officiated three pool gam and a quarterfal, but is not volved this weekend’s semis. He’s not alone his stggle – former Wal pta Gareth Thomas beme the first profsnal gby player to publicly announced he was gay 2009.

But when the Kgs Cross Steelers lnched two s ago, homosexual profsnal gby players were unheard of.

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

Homophobic crime numbers.

MEET GARETH THOMAS, FIRST GBY PLAYER TO E OUT AS GAY

5, 597: The number of homophobic crim reported to police England and Wal 2014/1522%: Increase on prev year11%: Of all hate crim reported to police were based on victims’ sexual orientatn Figur urty the Home Office. This was 1990s Bra, and fear of the AIDS epimic was actually enough to put some teams off playg the all-gay Steelers such a high-ntact sport.

“If you had said to me the early ’90s that out-gay men uld play a club like the Steelers, I’d have said was prehensible, ” says the club’s chairman, 43-year-old Alex Smh. Bhell says the homophobia they experienced the early days wasn’t only attributable to AIDS fears. Smh says he n thk of “maybe two homophobic cints” the last he’s played for gay teams across the UK.

SAM STANLEY IS FIRST ENGLISH GBY PLAYER TO E OUT AS GAY

“I wasn’t an out-gay man at that pot and I found that creasgly difficult. “When I first played for a gay gby club, I turned up, put on my boots, and was exactly the same as any other gby club I’d ever played for – the difference was I felt I uld be myself a way I wasn’t at other clubs.

FIRST OPENLY GAY GBY LEAGUE PLAYER KEEGAN HIRST OUT OF RETIREMENT

“I wasn’t openly gay.

And there were a few ments, not directed at me but perhaps to the women who were the park, which ma me feel not feel like I wanted to reveal I was gay to them. The Steelers are now also gearg up for the 2016 Bgham Cup, the biennial ternatnal gay tournament to be held Nashville, Tennsee, May.

GAY RUGBY PLAYER CAMPBELL JOHNSTONE ON COMG OUT

Wh over 50 gay gby clubs around the world today, ’s a long way om the days of six iends meetg a London pub wh a seemgly “prehensible” dream. Flick through the gallery for the story behd other openly gay athlet. Rugby is one of the most loved sports the world and due to s physily, is regard as a “manly” sport, which mak more difficult for gay players to publicly acknowledge their preference.

The players have bee a bean of light bee they overme stereotyp and other challeng faced by homosexual athlet way too often.

U.S. PRO GBY PLAYER DEV IBAñEZ OUT AS GAY

Nigel Owens, one of the bt refere the world, is openly gay and has been vol about how the gby world has been hugely acmodatg.

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

It is the sport’s rponsibily to posively promote anti-homophobia, and anti-bullyg general, so that the majory of people who are acceptg have a lour voice than those who prott. In this article, we’ll look at 10 Gay Rugby Players and how they are shapg the game today.