Campbell Johnstone: New Zealand player first to e out as gay | Rugby Unn News | Sky Sports

Contents:

• 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
• 20 YEARS OF GAY RUGBY NEW ZEALAND TO BE CELEBRATED ANNIVERSARY MATCH
• OPENLY GAY RUGBY PLAYER FEATURED IN RUGBY ATRALIA’S NEW #PARTOFMORE CAMPAIGN
• NEW ZEALAND GBY UNN STAR BE FIRST ALL BLACK TO PUBLICLY E OUT AS GAY
• CAMPBELL JOHNSTONE OUT AS GAY, FORMER ALL BLACKS GBY PLAYER HAS GLOBAL REACH
• CAMPBELL JOHNSTONE: NEW ZEALAND PLAYER FIRST TO E OUT AS GAY
• GAY RUGBY PLAYER CAMPBELL JOHNSTONE ON COMG OUT
• CAMPBELL JOHNSON, FORMER ALL BLACKS PRO-RUGBY PLAYER, COM OUT AS GAY
• NEW ZEALAND GBY PLAYER CAMPBELL JOHNSTONE: "IN MY HEAD BEG GAY WAS NOT A PART OF THAT IMAGE"
• FIRST ALL BLACK NEW ZEALAND PLAYER OUT AS OPENLY GAY
• CAMPBELL JOHNSTONE: NEW ZEALAND PLAYER FIRST TO E OUT AS GAY

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

As New Zealand's only reprentative natnal gay and clive gby team, recently, the NZ Falns played a pose team the Bgham Cup 2022 held Ottawa, Ontar. Former New Zealand gby player Campbell Johnstone beme the first All Black to e out publicly as gay, an terview wh TVNZ’s Seven Sharp on Monday.

“If I n be the first All Black that out as gay and take away the prsure and stigma surroundg the issue n actually help other people, ” Johnstone said.

In light of recent ntroversy regardg homophobic slurs by Israel Fol, we thought we would she a light on 10 fluential gay gby personali.

DISMANTLG STEREOTYP: 10 INSPIRG GAY RUGBY PLAYERS AND 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.

20 YEARS OF GAY RUGBY NEW ZEALAND TO BE CELEBRATED ANNIVERSARY MATCH

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.

Notable homosexual gby players and personali. Here’s a list of ten notable gay gby players and how they are shapg the game today.

OPENLY GAY RUGBY PLAYER FEATURED IN RUGBY ATRALIA’S NEW #PARTOFMORE CAMPAIGN

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.

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

NEW ZEALAND GBY UNN STAR BE FIRST ALL BLACK TO PUBLICLY E OUT AS GAY

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. AdvertisementAuckland’s gay gby team will travel to Wellgton for a game agast the Straight Ups Invatnal XV and mark the begng of gay gby New Zealand.

CAMPBELL JOHNSTONE OUT AS GAY, FORMER ALL BLACKS GBY PLAYER HAS GLOBAL REACH

October’s game will mark 20 years sce the first match between two gay gby teams New Zealand and the world. The first game between two gay gby teams occurred south Wellgton October 1998. The publicy was about beg able to say y, we’re gay, but we also want to be part of somethg that’s very much a part of our untry’s culture.

Twenty years on and the need for gay gby teams is jt as strong, if not stronger than what was 1998. For most of the time sce that October 1998 game, the Falns remaed New Zealand’s only out gay gby team. That changed this year wh the formatn of the Canterbury Hero Christchurch, a signal of gay gby’s ntual rise across the untry.

CAMPBELL JOHNSTONE: NEW ZEALAND PLAYER FIRST TO E OUT AS GAY

The importance of gay gby New Zealand over the past 20 years has been two-fold.

Speakg to exprs, Ronan Maoilchrn says that the first is obvly about provg a safe and supportive environment for gay men who love the game of gby unn but have prevly not felt fortable playg.

GAY RUGBY PLAYER CAMPBELL JOHNSTONE ON COMG OUT

Maoilchrn not the close relatnship the Falns have wh the sport’s erng body, New Zealand Rugby and the approach NZR have towards makg gby New Zealand more gay clive. “Havg gay teams such as the Falns, who have a close relatnship wh NZR (New Zealand Rugby), n only be good for makg the game more clive.

CAMPBELL JOHNSON, FORMER ALL BLACKS PRO-RUGBY PLAYER, COM OUT AS GAY

Given the progrs ma over the past twenty years for gay gby New Zealand, ’s important to acknowledge the event that started all.

NEW ZEALAND GBY PLAYER CAMPBELL JOHNSTONE: "IN MY HEAD BEG GAY WAS NOT A PART OF THAT IMAGE"

“Markg the 20th anniversary of the first gby match between two gay gby teams NZ and the world is important for the club. We want to regnize and remember the guys who’ve led the way for gay gby NZ. [spacer height=”20px”]Established 2013, the New Zealand Falns Rugby Football Club are Aotearoa’s premiere gay and clive gby unn and touch team wh the goal of enablg both aspirg and seasoned players to e together to participate and enjoy gby an open and supportive environment.

[spacer height=”20px”]The NZ Falns RFC is one of two gay gby clubs New Zealand, an affiliate wh the New Zealand Rugby Unn (NZRU), and one of 75 worldwi member clubs of Internatnal Gay Rugby (IGR). FIND YOUR NEAREST GAY & INCLUSIVE RUGBY CLUB.

FIRST ALL BLACK NEW ZEALAND PLAYER OUT AS OPENLY GAY

Wh lots of new Gay & Inclive Rugby Clubs settg up across the globe each year, ’s more and more likely that you live close enough to one to get volved wh and enjoy all kds of gby – regardls of your genr, sexualy, ethnicy, relign, size or gby the Map Search below or scroll through the Global Club Listgs lower down this page to fd an IGR club. The Christchurch Hero are a gay and clive gby team – meang they are LGBT iendly – and are associated wh the Christchurch Rugby Football Club, which was formed 1863 and claims to be the olst football club New Zealand and the send olst gby club the world. The Hero are Canterbury’s only gay and clive gby team and have jt fished their first season – their fal game was on the day the Csars beat the Lns to w back-to-back Super Rugby champnships - and they celebrated on the followg Friday night wh a functn at the cy’s so, attend by at least 300 people, all of whom left thoroughly entertaed early the next morng after several drag acts, a strip show or two, and, fally a dance party.

As a team they are followg the sprig marks of the New Zealand Falns, a gay and clive team associated wh Auckland’s Ponsonby club, but the Hero are fg their own path Christchurch, a cy tradnally seen as extremely nservative. But the Hero, who take their posn as role mols extremely serly – knowg they will be sctised by both the gay and straight muni on and off the field – have found that isn’t necsarily the se. It’s about clivy sport and challengg some of those stereotyp; both that the straight and gay muni have had.

“What we’ve found sce myself and [fellow manager] Rawa [Karetai] and the team members have been volved is that there’s often the perceptn that there’s this massive amount of homophobia sport… I gus the gay muny and straight muny had their pre-nceptns. We expected a b more of a backlash or homophobia and th far there hasn’t been – we’ve actually been really well supported by the club.

CAMPBELL JOHNSTONE: NEW ZEALAND PLAYER FIRST TO E OUT AS GAY

“We did a rearch project a few years ago on homophobia sport wh [human rights foundatn] Kaleidospe Atralia. In that report shows there is a lot of homophobia sport.

A lot of them haven’t played gby before or they haven’t sce they were que young, and our experienc high school playg for the first XV or send XV, pecially at an all-boys school like myself, wasn’t very nice pecially if you were gay. “We’ve been able to pull down those barriers a very straight world and the club self has said they need for them to have that mix and help provi a safe space for the gay and transsexual muny. There will be some people who will be watchg who don’t feel they intify wh the tradnal gay stereotyp – the glter, the mardi gras, hot pants, that kd of thg – and the are guys who may look at an clive team wh a lot of gay guys and thk, ‘you know what, I’m gay but those are the kds of guys I intify wh’.

We’re offerg an alternative to the tradnal gay stereotype. It , too, the wake of Wallabi star Israel Fol’s beliefs about the ultimate fate of homosexuals which he has spread far and wi on his social media acunts.