The Lester scm-half has thanked his ach and teammat for their ‘unbelievable’ support after g out as gay
Contents:
- HEARD OF THE STEELERS? NO, NOT THEM, THE GAY GBY TEAM OM LONDON
- NASHVILLE’S GAY RUGBY TEAM STRIPS DOWN, SHOWERS UP FOR 2016 CALENDAR: PHOTOS
- DISMANTLG STEREOTYP: 10 INSPIRG GAY RUGBY PLAYERS AND PERSONALI
- LIST | 5 GAY RUGBY STARS WHO ARE OUT AND PROUD
- WORLD’S FIRST GAY GBY CLUB TURNS 20: ‘NO-ONE HAD SEEN PLAYERS LIKE BEFORE’
- LESTER’S NICK MCCARTHY OUT AS GAY AND THANKS CLUB FOR THEIR SUPPORT
HEARD OF THE STEELERS? NO, NOT THEM, THE GAY GBY TEAM OM LONDON
Kgs Cross Steelers, named after the NFL si om Ptsburgh, is the first gay gby club the world, and a new documentary film, Steelers, follows their journey om trma to triumph. * gay rugby group *
That team was the Orlando Griffs, and while Fisher was open and accepted by the team as a gay man, he wanted to look for more members of the LGBTQ muny who would be terted playg. And to be fair, we were an clive team so I didn’t feel like me om a place that was homophobic. “It was gay gby players — across the natn and ternatnal — that me together a group to discs gay culture, the sport, we started hostg Zoom lls so we uld have that social teractn we weren’t gettg bee of the panmic, ” Fisher says.
It was this group that Fisher exprsed his feelgs of disnnect om the muny and was advised by a iend to start up his own LGBTQ gby team wh the Internatnal Gay Rugby league. Niamh LewisMar 1, 2021, 09:52 AM ETWhen Eammon Ashton-Atkson, an Atralian televisn reporter, cid to film his gby club as they went to the biannual Bgham Cup 2018, he uld never have imaged the posive reactn a documentary about would film Steelers is about London-based Kgs Cross Steelers, the world's first gay gby club and one of over 60 such sis world-wi.
Although the stori the film are related to the stggl of g out, prsn, and a history of bullyg for beg gay, they're are told a way which wir dienc n empathise wh. "It's a story about a gay gby club, but 's also a story about human stggle, and people g sport and their sense of muny to help each other, which is universal, " Ashton-Atkson told ESPN.
NASHVILLE’S GAY RUGBY TEAM STRIPS DOWN, SHOWERS UP FOR 2016 CALENDAR: PHOTOS
As did last year, the Nashville Grizzli gay and clive gby team jt released s 2016 fundraisg lendar and the gby beef is on display aga * gay rugby group *
"She's got a certifite for the hight achg level, and sce she left the Steelers she's been nsistently overlooked and not even shortlisted [for jobs] than men who are ls qualified and ls experienced than her, which is heart-breakg and disgtg, " Ashton-Atkson beg gay 2021 wtern society is often unremarkable today, you don't have to go back very far to fd trmatic stori. "But, if 's easier to e out now, then why do we need gay gby clubs? "That's a thought that do go through your md, and while 's generally a posive there are still pockets of homophobia.
DISMANTLG STEREOTYP: 10 INSPIRG GAY RUGBY PLAYERS AND PERSONALI
There are many great gay profsnal gby players and personali. The players have bee a bean of light bee they overme the stereotyp. * gay rugby group *
Then, 2019, Atralia's Israel Fol spouted his famo anti-gay ments on Instagram, sayg "hell awas" gay opened the drawer and started the ed aga om scratch, and turned to the unnventnal documentary has bee.
"Wh beg gay, you don't thk that I grew up sperately wantg to change my sexualy, like, wishg the gay away? They were dubbed the tabloids as 'Harlequeens, ' there was homophobic ments, and a fear over ntractg HIV and AIDS.
LIST | 5 GAY RUGBY STARS WHO ARE OUT AND PROUD
The world’s first gay gby club, the Kgs Cross Steelers, celebrat s 20th anniversary. * gay rugby group *
"For those of who grew up when wasn't ok to be gay, jt really before the ter was mon, there was huge stigma. You had Margaret Thatcher's Sectn 28 [a law brought the UK by a Conservative ernment om 1988-2003 to the "prohib the promotn of homosexualy"], misnceptns about the HIV vis, " Ashton-Atkson explas. "For those guys who were settg up that team 1995, they were real trailblazers bee they were gog out to different teams Essex week--week out smashg down stereotyp one game of gby at a time and om what I heard, the men Essex, they had never met an openly gay man before, let alone an openly gay sportsman.
However, "There are still issu wh homophobia and homophobic language beg ed on the pch. "And one of the thgs we've been workg on wh Harlequs and Monash Universy is that a lot of that isn't actually homophobia, 's the culture of clubs, the challeng of languag not beg followed through. As did last year, the Nashville Grizzli gay and clive gby team jt released s 2016 fundraisg lendar and the gby beef is on display aga to raise money for the team and their hostg of next year's Bgham Cup!
“We were found 2006 and are the only gay and clive gby team Nashville. RELATED: USA Rugby and Int'l Gay Rugby Sign Agreement to Rid the Sport of Homophobia.
WORLD’S FIRST GAY GBY CLUB TURNS 20: ‘NO-ONE HAD SEEN PLAYERS LIKE BEFORE’
“We will host the Bgham Cup, world champnship of gay gby, here Nashville May 2016. Named after Mark Bgham, who died the September 11, 2001 attacks, the Bgham Cup is the biggt tournament the world for gay and clive teams and this will be the first year has been hosted the South.
RELATED: Keegan Hirst Be First Brish Pro Rugby League Player to Come Out as Gay: ‘Now I Feel Free'. And Don't Miss Last Year's Hotns: Nashville's Gay Rugby Team Gets Wet, Muddy, and Shirtls for New Calendar: PHOTOS.
As Towleroad reported earlier this year, USA Rugby, the natnal erng body for the sport of gby unn the Uned Stat, has signed “a memorandum of unrstandg” wh Internatnal Gay Rugby ahead of next year's Bgham Cup Nashville. 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.
LESTER’S NICK MCCARTHY OUT AS GAY AND THANKS CLUB FOR THEIR SUPPORT
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.