A group of dited sportsmen have got together to create Northern Ireland's only gay gby team a bid to make the game more clive.
Contents:
- MEET THE AZLANS, NORTHERN IRELAND'S ONLY PREDOMANTLY GAY GBY TEAM
- NORTHERN IRELAND FALLY GETS AN LGBT-INCLIVE RUGBY TEAM"IT'S GREAT N BE YOURSELF ONT OF EVERYONE AND BE FORTABLE." {FONT:NORMAL 800 1.2REM/1.2 "D BOLD",SANS-SERIF;TEXT-TRANSFORM:NORMAL;LOR:HER;DISPLAY:LE-BLOCK;PADDG-BOTTOM:6PX;POSN:RELATIVE;TEXT-TRANSFORM:UPPERSE;}{BACKGROUND:#89308A;BOTTOM:0;NTENT:'';DISPLAY:BLOCK;HEIGHT:2PX;LEFT:0;POSN:ABSOLUTE;RIGHT:0;-WEBK-TRANSN:ALL 0.2S EASE;TRANSN:ALL 0.2S EASE;WIDTH:100%;}{LEFT:51%;RIGHT:51%;WIDTH:0;}{FONT:NORMAL 800 1.2REM/1.2 "D BOLD",SANS-SERIF;TEXT-TRANSFORM:NORMAL;LOR:HER;DISPLAY:LE-BLOCK;PADDG-BOTTOM:6PX;POSN:RELATIVE;TEXT-TRANSFORM:UPPERSE;}{BACKGROUND:#89308A;BOTTOM:0;NTENT:'';DISPLAY:BLOCK;HEIGHT:2PX;LEFT:0;POSN:ABSOLUTE;RIGHT:0;-WEBK-TRANSN:ALL 0.2S EASE;TRANSN:ALL 0.2S EASE;WIDTH:100%;}{LEFT:51%;RIGHT:51%;WIDTH:0;}LIFEBY CODY GOHLAPRIL 27, 2016/1:42 PMBY CODY GOHLAPRIL 27, 2016 / 1:42 PM{"@NTEXT":","@TYPE":"NEWSARTICLE","HEADLE":"NORTHERN IRELAND FALLY GETS AN LGBT-INCLIVE RUGBY TEAM","DATEPUBLISHED":"2016-04-27T17:42:41.000+0000","DATEMODIFIED":"2016-04-27T17:42:41.000+0000","IMAGE":{"@NTEXT":","@TYPE":"IMAGEOBJECT","WIDTH":1920,"HEIGHT":1080},"URL":","THOR":{"@TYPE":"ORGANIZATN","NAME":"LOGO TV"},"MAENTYOFPAGE":{"@TYPE":"WEBPAGE","@ID":"},"PUBLISHER":{"@TYPE":"ORGANIZATN","@ID":","NAME":"LOGO TV","URL":","LOGO":{"@TYPE":"IMAGEOBJECT"}},"CREATOR":"CODY GOHL","ARTICLESECTN":"LIFE"}{BOX-SIZG:BORR-BOX;PADDG:24PX 0;} A{LOR:#354A4E;-WEBK-TEXT-RATN:UNRLE;TEXT-RATN:UNRLE;} A:HOVER, A:FOC{-WEBK-TEXT-RATN:NONE;TEXT-RATN:NONE;} B, STRONG{FONT-WEIGHT:700;}IN HOP OF MAKG GBY A MORE CLIVE SPORT, A GROUP OF IRISH ATHLET HAVE GOTTEN TOGETHER TO FORM NORTHERN IRELAND'S ONLY PREDOMANTLY GAY GBY {BOX-SIZG:BORR-BOX;PADDG:24PX 0;} A{LOR:#354A4E;-WEBK-TEXT-RATN:UNRLE;TEXT-RATN:UNRLE;} A:HOVER, A:FOC{-WEBK-TEXT-RATN:NONE;TEXT-RATN:NONE;} B, STRONG{FONT-WEIGHT:700;}IN THE SPIR OF TE CLIVY, THE BELFAST-BASED AZLANS GBY CLUB IS OPEN TO ALL: YOUNG AND OLD, GAY AND STRAIGHT, TOTAL BEGNERS AND TRAED EXPERTS {BOX-SIZG:BORR-BOX;PADDG:24PX 0;} A{LOR:#354A4E;-WEBK-TEXT-RATN:UNRLE;TEXT-RATN:UNRLE;} A:HOVER, A:FOC{-WEBK-TEXT-RATN:NONE;TEXT-RATN:NONE;} B, STRONG{FONT-WEIGHT:700;}KEV BARTLETT, THE MAN BEHD THE TEAM, EXPLAED TO THE BELFAST TELEGRAPH THAT "THE AZLANS WELG EVERYONE AND MAKG EVERYONE FEEL WELE."{BOX-SIZG:BORR-BOX;PADDG:24PX 0;} A{LOR:#354A4E;-WEBK-TEXT-RATN:UNRLE;TEXT-RATN:UNRLE;} A:HOVER, A:FOC{-WEBK-TEXT-RATN:NONE;TEXT-RATN:NONE;} B, STRONG{FONT-WEIGHT:700;}BARTLETT WAS A MEMBER OF NORTHERN IRELAND'S FIRST GAY-IENDLY GBY TEAM, THE ULSTER TANS, BEFORE S DISBANDMENT, AND SAYS HE CID TO FOUND THE AZLANS AS A SPACE THAT WOULD PTURE THE TANS' OPEN {BOX-SIZG:BORR-BOX;PADDG:24PX 0;} A{LOR:#354A4E;-WEBK-TEXT-RATN:UNRLE;TEXT-RATN:UNRLE;} A:HOVER, A:FOC{-WEBK-TEXT-RATN:NONE;TEXT-RATN:NONE;} B, STRONG{FONT-WEIGHT:700;}"IT ME ABOUT BEE A LOT OF PEOPLE WERE SAYG TO ME THAT THEY WOULD LIKE TO PLAY GBY BUT THEY DIDN'T KNOW WHERE TO GO," HE {BOX-SIZG:BORR-BOX;PADDG:24PX 0;} A{LOR:#354A4E;-WEBK-TEXT-RATN:UNRLE;TEXT-RATN:UNRLE;} A:HOVER, A:FOC{-WEBK-TEXT-RATN:NONE;TEXT-RATN:NONE;} B, STRONG{FONT-WEIGHT:700;}"WE ARE THERE FOR PEOPLE WHO MAYBE HAVE NEVER PLAYED GBY BEFORE, FOR WHATEVER REASON, OR MAYBE THEY WOULD LIKE TO GET BACK TO THE SPORT. YOU N E ALONG AND LEARN AND TRA. EVERYONE IS ACCEPTED— DON'T MATTER WHO THEY ARE."{BOX-SIZG:BORR-BOX;PADDG:24PX 0;} A{LOR:#354A4E;-WEBK-TEXT-RATN:UNRLE;TEXT-RATN:UNRLE;} A:HOVER, A:FOC{-WEBK-TEXT-RATN:NONE;TEXT-RATN:NONE;} B, STRONG{FONT-WEIGHT:700;}BARTLETT'S TEAMMATE STEPHEN AIKEN, WHO HAS BEEN VOLVED WH THE TEAM SCE S CEPTN, FDS THAT THE AZLANS CLUB OFFERS A SAFE SPACE FOR HIM TO BE EXACTLY WHO HE {BOX-SIZG:BORR-BOX;PADDG:24PX 0;} A{LOR:#354A4E;-WEBK-TEXT-RATN:UNRLE;TEXT-RATN:UNRLE;} A:HOVER, A:FOC{-WEBK-TEXT-RATN:NONE;TEXT-RATN:NONE;} B, STRONG{FONT-WEIGHT:700;}"WHEN WE ARE OUT ON THE PCH, YOU REALIZE HOW WELL EVERYONE GETS ON—WHAT HAPPENS ON THE PCH DON'T AFFECT WHAT HAPPENS WHEN YOU E OFF . IT'S GREAT BEE YOU DON'T HAVE TO PUT ON A ONT, YOU N BE YOURSELF ONT OF EVERYONE AND BE FORTABLE."{BOX-SIZG:BORR-BOX;PADDG:24PX 0;} A{LOR:#354A4E;-WEBK-TEXT-RATN:UNRLE;TEXT-RATN:UNRLE;} A:HOVER, A:FOC{-WEBK-TEXT-RATN:NONE;TEXT-RATN:NONE;} B, STRONG{FONT-WEIGHT:700;}TO FD OUT MORE ABOUT THE TEAM, CHECK OUT THEIR FACEBOOK PAGE!{BOX-SIZG:BORR-BOX;CLEAR:BOTH;}{BOX-SIZG:BORR-BOX;MARG:0 TO;WIDTH:90%;M-WIDTH:288PX;MAX-WIDTH:1440PX;M-HEIGHT:194PX;}LATT NEWS
- GAY WARRRS LE OUT FOR WORLD CUP
- “LADS ASKED THE QUTN AND I SAID YEAH – I WAS GAY. THEN WE PLAYED THE GAME AND HAD A BEER AFTER.”
- IRISH ACTOR FEATURG GAY GBY MOVIE OPENS UP ABOUT OVERG BULLYG
- GAY GBY TEAM 'UNACCEPTABLE'
- GAY PRO GBY PLAYER NICK MCCARTHY OUT IRELAND TO WISPREAD ACCEPTANCE
- IRISH GBY STAR OUT AS GAY AFTER FEARG HE WOULD HAVE TO QU GAME
MEET THE AZLANS, NORTHERN IRELAND'S ONLY PREDOMANTLY GAY GBY TEAM
* irish gay rugby team *
A group of dited sportsmen have got together to create Northern Ireland's only gay gby team a bid to make the game more than that, the Belfast-based Azlans club is open to all - young and old, gay and straight, plete begners and those wh a great al more Bartlett, the man behd the team, explaed: "The Azlans are actually an clive team. "Antrim man Kev, a disabily support officer, has been volved clive sport for the past 20 was volved heavily wh the Ulster Tans, Northern Ireland's first gay-iendly gby club, before ceased to exist. Belfast-based Azlans club on ver of GNI Mag"Y, there are gay people who e along and feel fortable, but is actually about targetg everyone, for example the person who has always played Gaelic but thks they would like to give gby a go.
Howard Webster reports on Ireland's first gay gby team, their acceptance by the IRFU and their September 11th heroEmerald Warrrs RFC, based Dubl, are Ireland's first and only all-gay gby team. One of the "hero" aboard Uned Airl flight 93, which crashed a Pennsylvania field on September 11, 2001, was a 110kg, 195cm gby player, a member of San Francis Fog RFC, a team set up to enurage gay men to play the sport.
In hop of makg gby a more clive sport, a group of Irish athlet have gotten together to form Northern Ireland's only predomantly gay gby the spir of te clivy, the Belfast-based Azlans gby club is open to all: young and old, gay and straight, total begners and traed experts Bartlett, the man behd the team, explaed to the Belfast Telegraph that "The Azlans welg everyone and makg everyone feel wele. "Bartlett was a member of Northern Ireland's first gay-iendly gby team, the Ulster Tans, before s disbandment, and says he cid to found the Azlans as a space that would pture the Tans' open spir. IRELAND's first gay gby team, the Emerald Warrrs, have been accepted for affiliatn by the Irish Rugby Football Unn, and the team have vowed not to let opponents "walk all over" them.
NORTHERN IRELAND FALLY GETS AN LGBT-INCLIVE RUGBY TEAM"IT'S GREAT N BE YOURSELF ONT OF EVERYONE AND BE FORTABLE." {FONT:NORMAL 800 1.2REM/1.2 "D BOLD",SANS-SERIF;TEXT-TRANSFORM:NORMAL;LOR:HER;DISPLAY:LE-BLOCK;PADDG-BOTTOM:6PX;POSN:RELATIVE;TEXT-TRANSFORM:UPPERSE;}{BACKGROUND:#89308A;BOTTOM:0;NTENT:'';DISPLAY:BLOCK;HEIGHT:2PX;LEFT:0;POSN:ABSOLUTE;RIGHT:0;-WEBK-TRANSN:ALL 0.2S EASE;TRANSN:ALL 0.2S EASE;WIDTH:100%;}{LEFT:51%;RIGHT:51%;WIDTH:0;}{FONT:NORMAL 800 1.2REM/1.2 "D BOLD",SANS-SERIF;TEXT-TRANSFORM:NORMAL;LOR:HER;DISPLAY:LE-BLOCK;PADDG-BOTTOM:6PX;POSN:RELATIVE;TEXT-TRANSFORM:UPPERSE;}{BACKGROUND:#89308A;BOTTOM:0;NTENT:'';DISPLAY:BLOCK;HEIGHT:2PX;LEFT:0;POSN:ABSOLUTE;RIGHT:0;-WEBK-TRANSN:ALL 0.2S EASE;TRANSN:ALL 0.2S EASE;WIDTH:100%;}{LEFT:51%;RIGHT:51%;WIDTH:0;}LIFEBY CODY GOHLAPRIL 27, 2016/1:42 PMBY CODY GOHLAPRIL 27, 2016 / 1:42 PM{"@NTEXT":","@TYPE":"NEWSARTICLE","HEADLE":"NORTHERN IRELAND FALLY GETS AN LGBT-INCLIVE RUGBY TEAM","DATEPUBLISHED":"2016-04-27T17:42:41.000+0000","DATEMODIFIED":"2016-04-27T17:42:41.000+0000","IMAGE":{"@NTEXT":","@TYPE":"IMAGEOBJECT","WIDTH":1920,"HEIGHT":1080},"URL":","THOR":{"@TYPE":"ORGANIZATN","NAME":"LOGO TV"},"MAENTYOFPAGE":{"@TYPE":"WEBPAGE","@ID":"},"PUBLISHER":{"@TYPE":"ORGANIZATN","@ID":","NAME":"LOGO TV","URL":","LOGO":{"@TYPE":"IMAGEOBJECT"}},"CREATOR":"CODY GOHL","ARTICLESECTN":"LIFE"}{BOX-SIZG:BORR-BOX;PADDG:24PX 0;} A{LOR:#354A4E;-WEBK-TEXT-RATN:UNRLE;TEXT-RATN:UNRLE;} A:HOVER, A:FOC{-WEBK-TEXT-RATN:NONE;TEXT-RATN:NONE;} B, STRONG{FONT-WEIGHT:700;}IN HOP OF MAKG GBY A MORE CLIVE SPORT, A GROUP OF IRISH ATHLET HAVE GOTTEN TOGETHER TO FORM NORTHERN IRELAND'S ONLY PREDOMANTLY GAY GBY {BOX-SIZG:BORR-BOX;PADDG:24PX 0;} A{LOR:#354A4E;-WEBK-TEXT-RATN:UNRLE;TEXT-RATN:UNRLE;} A:HOVER, A:FOC{-WEBK-TEXT-RATN:NONE;TEXT-RATN:NONE;} B, STRONG{FONT-WEIGHT:700;}IN THE SPIR OF TE CLIVY, THE BELFAST-BASED AZLANS GBY CLUB IS OPEN TO ALL: YOUNG AND OLD, GAY AND STRAIGHT, TOTAL BEGNERS AND TRAED EXPERTS {BOX-SIZG:BORR-BOX;PADDG:24PX 0;} A{LOR:#354A4E;-WEBK-TEXT-RATN:UNRLE;TEXT-RATN:UNRLE;} A:HOVER, A:FOC{-WEBK-TEXT-RATN:NONE;TEXT-RATN:NONE;} B, STRONG{FONT-WEIGHT:700;}KEV BARTLETT, THE MAN BEHD THE TEAM, EXPLAED TO THE BELFAST TELEGRAPH THAT "THE AZLANS WELG EVERYONE AND MAKG EVERYONE FEEL WELE."{BOX-SIZG:BORR-BOX;PADDG:24PX 0;} A{LOR:#354A4E;-WEBK-TEXT-RATN:UNRLE;TEXT-RATN:UNRLE;} A:HOVER, A:FOC{-WEBK-TEXT-RATN:NONE;TEXT-RATN:NONE;} B, STRONG{FONT-WEIGHT:700;}BARTLETT WAS A MEMBER OF NORTHERN IRELAND'S FIRST GAY-IENDLY GBY TEAM, THE ULSTER TANS, BEFORE S DISBANDMENT, AND SAYS HE CID TO FOUND THE AZLANS AS A SPACE THAT WOULD PTURE THE TANS' OPEN {BOX-SIZG:BORR-BOX;PADDG:24PX 0;} A{LOR:#354A4E;-WEBK-TEXT-RATN:UNRLE;TEXT-RATN:UNRLE;} A:HOVER, A:FOC{-WEBK-TEXT-RATN:NONE;TEXT-RATN:NONE;} B, STRONG{FONT-WEIGHT:700;}"IT ME ABOUT BEE A LOT OF PEOPLE WERE SAYG TO ME THAT THEY WOULD LIKE TO PLAY GBY BUT THEY DIDN'T KNOW WHERE TO GO," HE {BOX-SIZG:BORR-BOX;PADDG:24PX 0;} A{LOR:#354A4E;-WEBK-TEXT-RATN:UNRLE;TEXT-RATN:UNRLE;} A:HOVER, A:FOC{-WEBK-TEXT-RATN:NONE;TEXT-RATN:NONE;} B, STRONG{FONT-WEIGHT:700;}"WE ARE THERE FOR PEOPLE WHO MAYBE HAVE NEVER PLAYED GBY BEFORE, FOR WHATEVER REASON, OR MAYBE THEY WOULD LIKE TO GET BACK TO THE SPORT. YOU N E ALONG AND LEARN AND TRA. EVERYONE IS ACCEPTED— DON'T MATTER WHO THEY ARE."{BOX-SIZG:BORR-BOX;PADDG:24PX 0;} A{LOR:#354A4E;-WEBK-TEXT-RATN:UNRLE;TEXT-RATN:UNRLE;} A:HOVER, A:FOC{-WEBK-TEXT-RATN:NONE;TEXT-RATN:NONE;} B, STRONG{FONT-WEIGHT:700;}BARTLETT'S TEAMMATE STEPHEN AIKEN, WHO HAS BEEN VOLVED WH THE TEAM SCE S CEPTN, FDS THAT THE AZLANS CLUB OFFERS A SAFE SPACE FOR HIM TO BE EXACTLY WHO HE {BOX-SIZG:BORR-BOX;PADDG:24PX 0;} A{LOR:#354A4E;-WEBK-TEXT-RATN:UNRLE;TEXT-RATN:UNRLE;} A:HOVER, A:FOC{-WEBK-TEXT-RATN:NONE;TEXT-RATN:NONE;} B, STRONG{FONT-WEIGHT:700;}"WHEN WE ARE OUT ON THE PCH, YOU REALIZE HOW WELL EVERYONE GETS ON—WHAT HAPPENS ON THE PCH DON'T AFFECT WHAT HAPPENS WHEN YOU E OFF . IT'S GREAT BEE YOU DON'T HAVE TO PUT ON A ONT, YOU N BE YOURSELF ONT OF EVERYONE AND BE FORTABLE."{BOX-SIZG:BORR-BOX;PADDG:24PX 0;} A{LOR:#354A4E;-WEBK-TEXT-RATN:UNRLE;TEXT-RATN:UNRLE;} A:HOVER, A:FOC{-WEBK-TEXT-RATN:NONE;TEXT-RATN:NONE;} B, STRONG{FONT-WEIGHT:700;}TO FD OUT MORE ABOUT THE TEAM, CHECK OUT THEIR FACEBOOK PAGE!{BOX-SIZG:BORR-BOX;CLEAR:BOTH;}{BOX-SIZG:BORR-BOX;MARG:0 TO;WIDTH:90%;M-WIDTH:288PX;MAX-WIDTH:1440PX;M-HEIGHT:194PX;}LATT NEWS
Howard Webster reports on Ireland's first gay gby team, their acceptance by the IRFU and their September 11th hero * irish gay rugby team *
Foundg member Richie Whyte said yterday: "I image that some straight teams, when they e to play agast a gay team will thk, 'We're not gog to be beaten by this bunch of pansi', so they'll play a very hard game. "The Emerald Warrrs will travel to the UK later this month to pete the gay gby world tournament is lled the Bgham Cup, and is named after Mark Bgham, a US gby player who died after tacklg the hijackers of Uned Airl Flight 91 durg the September 11 attacks, preventg the plane om reachg s tend target at Washgton. Pearse, who is openly gay, also told of his hope that the gby movie, directed by Matt Carter and -starrg former Emmerdale actor Alexanr Lln, will enurage other young people who are stgglg wh their sexualy to e out.
“In turn, I feel if I n now help others e out profsnal sport or their everyday liv and make beg gay more normal and not a thg to be worried about, then that is a posive. "I suppose there's an old tradnal stereotype that gay people aren't seen as sporty, and through clive teams like the Warrrs and the Hellhounds we n show that 's an accsible sport to the muny and show they've as jt as much a right to be on the pch as anyone else.
GAY WARRRS LE OUT FOR WORLD CUP
Northern Ireland gets s first gay gby team, the Azlans. * irish gay rugby team *
"Prevly, pecially for the slightly olr players like myself my 30s, growg up towards the end of a more nservative Ireland we'd have felt that beg gay or bisexual meant we didn't really have a place on a gby team or sports team of any kd. Atralian A-League soccer star Josh Cavallo me out as gay an October vio posted to his social media, beg hailed as the first current male top-flight profsnal soccer player to publicly do so.
The 28-year-old Natnal Football League player and Rairs fensive leman ma history when he me out as gay on Instagram durg Pri Month, beg the first veteran NFL player to e out as gay while signed to a regular-season ntract. The Bachelor star and former football player (who was signed by the San Diego Chargers as an undrafted ee agent and was on the practice squad of the Oakland Rairs and the Philalphia Eagl) me out as gay April, sayg he had fally e to terms wh his sexualy and the "next step all of this was sort of lettg people know.
Corey Walsh, the 27-year-old pro BMX rir and Vans spokperson, said he isn't normally the type of person to "let people " on his personal life, but felt was important to e out as gay a March Instagram post bee "there are a lot of people still stgglg wh the same suatns" and he "jt wanted to let people know that they are not alone.
“LADS ASKED THE QUTN AND I SAID YEAH – I WAS GAY. THEN WE PLAYED THE GAME AND HAD A BEER AFTER.”
IRELAND's first gay gby team, the Emerald Warrrs, have been accepted for affiliatn by the Irish Rugby Football Unn, and the team have vowed not to let opponents "walk all over" them. * irish gay rugby team *
Champn long track speedskater Conor McDermott-Mostowy never hid beg gay om his fay, iends, and fellow athlet, but he also wasn't one to rate his locker wh rabow Pri flags eher. As a rult, has tradnally rerced an orthodox form of twentieth-century masculy that is lked to those who are whe, middle class, able-bodied, and, most important to this analysis, heterosexual (Symons, 2009) is now wily regnized, however, that twenty-first-century sport is a social stutn that shap and impacts upon the liv of gay and lbian athlet too. Sce soclogist first began to qutn the role that sport plays the productn and reproductn of mascule inty the mid-1980s (Dunng, 1986), there was a slow progrsn om examg sport as a se of male ntrol over women, to regnizg the tersectn between sport and sexualy that rults om the largely heteronormative and homophobic culture of profsnal sport the 1990s and the first of the twenty-first century (Rowe, Markwell, & Stevenson, 2006) was this hospable perd of time that gave rise to sexual orientatn-segregated sportg spac for gay men.
IRISH ACTOR FEATURG GAY GBY MOVIE OPENS UP ABOUT OVERG BULLYG
Gay gby movie In From The Si and s release have been life-changg more ways than one for Pearse Egan. * irish gay rugby team *
The Gay Gam, while spired by the Olympic Gam, were troduced to foster cln rponse to the “apparent racism, sexism, natnalism, homophobia and elism” prent the mastream gam (Symons, 2009, p. Concerng the foc of this chapter, gby, the first soclogil vtigatn occurred the Uned Kgdom by Price and Parker (2003) and they found the existence of the untry’s first gay club (formed 1995) was prcipally anized around pg perceived or actual homophobia of mastream new Millennium brought chang attus toward homosexualy, not only to society, but also to mastream sport (Anrson, 2014).
Exemplifyg this shift empirilly, the first prehensive vtigatn of the experienc of gay mal playg on ostensibly heterosexual teams was nducted by Anrson 2005, and he found that matters had begun to change. This was a fdg that was affirmed by yet further outlook upon the gay male athlet by straight men 2011 (Anrson, 2011), has been repeatedly shown that heterosexual athlet, generally, are creasgly acceptg of homosexualy (Anrson, Magrath, & Bullgham, 2016; Anrson & McCormack, 2015; Bh, Anrson, & Carr, 2012) reason for this acceptance has to do wh changg attudal disposn toward gay men and changg masculy among heterosexual mal. Anrson (2009) has argued that an clive masculy is now the norm for “Whe, middle class men; both si and outsi of sport” rather than the “domeerg, homophobic behavurs and attus of orthodox masculy”.
GAY GBY TEAM 'UNACCEPTABLE'
Rugby has tradnally existed as a leadg fer of masculy Brish culture. In the twentieth century, this fn clud overt homophobia and sexism. It is for this reason that openly gay gby players have tradnally chosen to pete for gay... * irish gay rugby team *
347) was the first to e the term “clive masculy” to scribe mascule performanc that view hegemonic masculy as unsirable wh a willgns to embrace femy “ls ncerned wh migatg homosexual spicn through homophobia and heterosexism”. There is also evince for creasg societal acceptance of gay athlet and a softeng of media attus toward gay male athlet both the Uned Kgdom and Uned Stat wh a shift toward clive masculy (Cleland, 2014, 2018; Kian & Anrson, 2009) and MasculyRugby, which Dunng (1986, p. In this manner, twentieth-century gby players nsolidated their masculy wh gby servg to privilege prence of gay players the hypermascule, physil gby environment may be the ultimate subversn of the myth of gay men beg effemate and un-mascule (Symons, 2010), a siar manner to the challeng to tradnal nstctns of femy that female players prent (Wright & Clarke, 1999).
This is bee the volvement of gay players a space that has been a fundamental source of heterosexual male power unrm masculy and challeng the boundary between gay and straight mal and ultimately the perceived differenc between men and women as a whole (Anrson, 2002) example, former Welsh ternatnal player, Gareth Thomas—who is one of the most well-known and rpected players Welsh gby history (McGivern & Miller, 2017; Zhu, 2016)—me out December 2009, to an “overwhelmgly supportive” rponse (McCormack & Anrson, 2010, p. His rerd as one of the most succsful players the sport, bed wh his mascule appearance and physil playg style were certaly ntrary to the mythil reprentatns of gay mal and may expla the posive rponse. Th, there has been a softeng of the culture associated wh playg gby, driven by younger players g through the system who are creasgly rejectg, if not challengg the prevly accepted e of homophobic disurse that is ed by olr members of the gby muny.
Price and Parker (2003) found that the overridg reason for players jog one gay gby team was that the clive club offered a “safe and iendly sportg environment” (Price & Parker, 2003, p. 118) and a haven for those who had been exclud or ostracized om the mastream gby their analysis, Price and Parker (2003) examed the Kgs Cross Steelers Rugby Football Club, an amatr gby club based London and the self-claimed world’s first gay gby club. The number of gay gby clubs around the world has steadily grown, spurred by the creatn of The Internatnal Gay Rugby Associatn and Board (IGRAB) Ireland, the first gay gby team was found 2003.
GAY PRO GBY PLAYER NICK MCCARTHY OUT IRELAND TO WISPREAD ACCEPTANCE
Atralia’s first gay gby club, the Sydney Convicts have been embraced by the cy’s gby muny wh s founr Andrew Purchas award the Orr of Atralia medal that regniz outstandg achievement and service by Atralians. Fdg participants for this rearch was not difficult as the number of clive men’s gby teams has grown om ls than a dozen clubs one ago to eighty-four clubs the Uned Kgdom and Wtern Europe as regnized by and registered wh the Internatnal Gay Rugby Board. Semi-stctured terviews of ten players om each team occurred alongsi, participant observatn and wrten rpons to a participant-requted qutnnaire provid sight to the ratnale as to why the men seek to bee members of the nearly all gay men clive clubs.
As one gay player said wh a lgh, “They jt don’t know they’re gay yet” the nature of clive club members who participated this rearch we opted to exclu heterosexual members of the clubs (only five heterosexual players were intified over the urse of the rearch). RultsGay men’s participatn sport, general, and gby football, particular, has been the object of rearchers’ tert for years (Anrson, 2002, 2011; Bnier & Brownell, 2012). What is unique, however, is the growg number of clive gay men’s sports teams which were, ostensibly, begun to promote the sport of gby among an overlooked and unrreprented populatn.
Intertgly, the promotn of the sport at the natnal level the Uned Kgdom lags far behd the grassroots anizg of clive gay men’s teams begun jt over twenty years ago London (, 2016). Ined, only has been the last five years that gay men’s clive teams have begun to ga a foothold gby, albe still somewhat on the borrs and not the mastream of the gby world. The purpose, rather, was to explore via a ground theoretil approach the possibly changg stcture of gby the Uned Kgdom as relat to the rise clive gay men’s gby teams and their impact on the sport England and beyond.
IRISH GBY STAR OUT AS GAY AFTER FEARG HE WOULD HAVE TO QU GAME
Anrson has repeatedly argued and shown that while homophobia is rapidly creasg, as mori, gay men will always exist wh some cultural i of homophobia, or at least heteronormativy (Anrson, 2009). That fdg alone mak this rearch novel: This is not the experience of gay men clive clubs prevly (Price & Parker, 2003) addn, the nature of masculi as pertas to the social, cultural, and temporal experience of many of the participants was examed but did not bee a central foc of this rearch.
Instead, our thematic dg found three new areas of tert this vtigatn: (1) the social pal sought by and gaed by many participants on clive men’s gby clubs, (2) clubs’ prence for many gay men as a “safe haven”, and (3) for some gay men their participatn wh the clive gby club was merely a hobby and a means for them to meet other gay men wh siar terts sport. He later wanted to expla that he unrstood that not only his fellow clive men’s gby teammat saw him as a gay man and member of the club, but that when he wore his Hampshire jersey on non-gby days while walkg or travelg around town other townspeople “probably knew” he is gay.
The nversatn wh the two spectators/former players was direct reference to ncerns exprsed by rearchers regard to ncsns and the effect of improper tacklg techniqu on younger players England and elsewhere (Pollock, Whe, & Kirkwood, 2017) then followed was a nversatn between the two approximately seventy-year-old former Rochter Rugby Club players when asked about chang the sexual orientatn/genr inty of current players, and not the laws of the game, regard to acceptance of gay men most levels of the sport. A few sub-them emerged discsg the rise of clive gby teams wh admistrators, spectators, gay players, and players om non-clive clubs, openly intifyg as gay or otherwise, when the first rearcher met wh members of an clive gay men’s club and men om another non-clive club. The first of the them is nearly all participants om the “normal” teams were aware about some gby unterparts—and teammat are gay—and no one terviewed seemed to give the matter a send thought.