LIST | 5 Gay Rugby Stars Who Are Out And Proud - Ruck

Contents:

• STLAND’S GAY GBY PLAYERS OFFER THANKS TO STT HASTGS
• DISMANTLG STEREOTYP: 10 INSPIRG GAY RUGBY PLAYERS AND PERSONALI
• IS GBY AS GAY AS LOOKS? A CURUFC PLAYER’S PERSPECTIVE
• LIST | 5 GAY RUGBY STARS WHO ARE OUT AND PROUD
• LESTER’S NICK MCCARTHY OUT AS GAY AND THANKS CLUB FOR THEIR SUPPORT
• FORMER NEW ZEALAND GBY PLAYER CAMPBELL JOHNSTONE BE FIRST ALL BLACK TO E OUT AS GAY
• ZANR MURRAY IS FIRST CURRENT STTISH PROFSNAL PLAYER TO E OUT AS GAY
• WHO IS GARETH THOMAS? OPENLY GAY WAL GBY UNN LEGEND AND REALY STAR DIAGNOSED WH HIV

STLAND’S GAY GBY PLAYERS OFFER THANKS TO STT HASTGS

SportThe print of Stland’s leadg “gay and clive gby club” Caledonian Thebans has praised Grand Slam hero Stt Hastgs for his terventn the Israel Fol homophobia Atralian ternatnal was sacked after a social media post which he said “hell awas” gay people. The 73-tim pped Wallaby full-back had his ntract wh the Rugby Atralia and New South Wal Waratahs end after beg warned followg siar ments last 30-year-old vout Christian of Tongan scent posted on Instagram: “Dnks, homosexuals, adulterers, liars, fornitors, thiev, atheists and idolators [sic] – Hell awas you. ”Hastgs, the former Stland and Lns centre, whose son Corey is gay, tweeted his disapproval of England ternatnal Billy Vunipola’s support for Fol’s ments on Saturday om Sgapore where he was mentatg on the world sevens seri 54-year old Hastgs, who played 65 Tts for Stland and two for the Brish and Irish Lns between 1986 and 1997, was rpondg to a tweet by English gby mentator Nick Heath, who had said “as a gay gby mentator, I’ve had enough of God-fearg athlet tellg me I need to repent for my ss”.

To mark their 20th anniversary as the UK's first gay gby team, the Kgs Cross Steelers stipped down and posed for a new book to be published by die 'ze Meat. All the players were photographed by Meat's founr, Adrian, who started Meat 2010, said that he was "tired of the body shamg that go on wh the gay muny. " His aim is to "celebrate the bodi of 'ordary gay men.

The Steelers has not only helped pave the way for clive gby teams but also helped hanged perceptns about gay sportsmen. "Alex Smh, Chairman of the Kgs Cross Steelers said: "Dpe so much progrs over the last 20 years, n still be very difficult to be an out gay man, ma even more so by a lot of unhelpful noise around how to be, act or look wh the muny.

DISMANTLG STEREOTYP: 10 INSPIRG GAY RUGBY PLAYERS AND PERSONALI

"He add: "For two s, our club has helped hundreds of men - big, small, gay or straight - realize the great maxim about gby: that is a game for people of all shap and siz - tly a sport for everyone. 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.

IS GBY AS GAY AS LOOKS? A CURUFC PLAYER’S PERSPECTIVE

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.

Notable homosexual gby players and personali. 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.

LIST | 5 GAY RUGBY STARS WHO ARE OUT AND PROUD

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. Sam Stanley beme the first openly gay Rugby Unn and Sevens player the UK.

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

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.

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.

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

Wh the issue of homophobia football htg the headl, one player reveals his experience as a gay man the world of gby. One stunt attribut the solidary among gby teams to his posive experienc as a gay gby playerOli Butler. Rugby, taken out of s sportg ntext, is about as homoerotic as a platonic activy n get.

I beme obssed wh gby at the same age I began to realise I was gay: 11. I was very lucky to have this social pal to protect me when mours emerged that I was gay.

ZANR MURRAY IS FIRST CURRENT STTISH PROFSNAL PLAYER TO E OUT AS GAY

(If you didn’t know, I’m gay and play gby #niche). The only b of -game homophobia that has ever been directed at me me one of my first XV gam when the opposn hooker emerged om a scm and lled me a “f***g f*ggot”.

It was this reactn which has epomised my relatnship wh homophobia: gby, your teammat have your back. My favoure recent one has been: “Do you watch gay porn?

WHO IS GARETH THOMAS? OPENLY GAY WAL GBY UNN LEGEND AND REALY STAR DIAGNOSED WH HIV

This nocent ignorance do filter through to what I would refer to as ‘lazy homophobia’. General “locker room banter”, to quote Mr Tmp, is omniprent – like llg someone gay for not enjoyg the fensive aspect of the game. Comments like this don’t make someone homophobic, but they do pat an image of an unwelg environment, which n make very timidatg to e out to people – particularly if those around you are olr (and bigger).

I thk ’s a shame that flippant ments like this give the imprsn that gby is not a sport for all sexuali bee, while may seem disuragg om the outsi, homophobia, om my experience, is not particularly apparent a team. A major reason for this is the high-profile openly gay dividuals who are begng to brg gby’s hidn diversy to light. Nigel Owens, who is wily regnised as one of the bt refere the world, is openly gay and has been vol on how the gby world has been hugely acmodatg.