First openly gay player Keegan Hirst 'overwhelmed and humbled' by support - Eurosport

Contents:

• THE URAGEO JOURNEY OF IAN ROBERTS, GBY LEAGUE'S FIRST OPENLY GAY PLAYER
• GAY RUGBY LEAGUE PLAYER SAYS HE'S SEEN MUCH 'GAYER' THGS IN SPORTS CHANGG ROOMS
• KEEGAN HIRST: ‘I’M PROUD TO BE A GBY LEAGUE PLAYER AND I’M PROUD TO BE GAY’
• DISMANTLG STEREOTYP: 10 INSPIRG GAY RUGBY PLAYERS AND PERSONALI
• FIRST OPENLY GAY PLAYER KEEGAN HIRST 'OVERWHELMED AND HUMBLED' BY SUPPORT
• FIRST OPENLY GAY GBY LEAGUE PLAYER KEEGAN HIRST OUT OF RETIREMENT
• LESTER’S NICK MCCARTHY OUT AS GAY AND THANKS CLUB FOR THEIR SUPPORT
• FIRST OPENLY GAY GBY LEAGUE PLAYER HAILS 'OVERWHELMG' SUPPORT
• KEEGAN HIRST - FIRST OPENLY GAY, ACTIVE RUGBY LEAGUE PLAYER
• 10 GAY RUGBY PLAYERS WHO MA THEIR COME OUT
• KEEGAN HIRST STEPS ON TO FIELD AS BRA'S FIRST GBY LEAGUE STAR TO E OUT AS GAY
• I'M A CELEBRY AU: BE RYAN SAYS HE'S CERTA THERE ARE GAY PLAYERS THE NRL
• IS GBY AS GAY AS LOOKS? A CURUFC PLAYER’S PERSPECTIVE

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.

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

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

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.

”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.

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

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.

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.

DISMANTLG STEREOTYP: 10 INSPIRG GAY RUGBY PLAYERS AND PERSONALI

“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. 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.

FIRST OPENLY GAY PLAYER KEEGAN HIRST 'OVERWHELMED AND HUMBLED' BY SUPPORT

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. Gay people around the world are still executed, arrted and persecuted for beg 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.

FIRST OPENLY GAY GBY LEAGUE PLAYER KEEGAN HIRST OUT OF RETIREMENT

“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.

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

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

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. 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.

FIRST OPENLY GAY GBY LEAGUE PLAYER HAILS 'OVERWHELMG' SUPPORT

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.

KEEGAN HIRST - FIRST OPENLY GAY, ACTIVE RUGBY LEAGUE PLAYER

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.

10 GAY RUGBY PLAYERS WHO MA THEIR COME OUT

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.

KEEGAN HIRST STEPS ON TO FIELD AS BRA'S FIRST GBY LEAGUE STAR 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. "You expect a b of stick om fans, om players - you get whether you're gay or not - but there wasn't any of that.

"I don't thk there will be a Spartac-like thg where everyone out and says 'I'm gay', but if a uple of people do then 's a good thg. "That will help normalise , and hopefully one day a sportsman who's playg, beg gay, won't be news.

"At first I uldn't even say 'I'm gay' my head, let alone out loud, " the father of two said.

I'M A CELEBRY AU: BE RYAN SAYS HE'S CERTA THERE ARE GAY PLAYERS THE NRL

"Cross- ternatnal Gareth Thomas was prevly the only openly homosexual gby player after he me out whilst playg for gby unn si Cardiff Blu 2009. 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? 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.

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

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. Last month, Blackpool’s Jake Daniels beme the first UK-based male footballer to e out as gay sce 1990. Media ptn, Keegan Hirst says was "nceivable" for him to thk he uld be gayThe first Brish gby league player to e out as gay says he has been "overwhelmed" and "humbled" by fans' and fellow players' support for Hirst, who is separated om his wife, said the time had e "to be te to myself".