Professional Rubgy player, Gareth Thomas, comes out gay
“It is the toughest, most macho of male sports, and with that comes an image. In many ways, it is barbaric, and I could never have come out without first establishing myself and earning respect as a player. Rugby was my passion, my whole life, and I wasn’t prepared to risk losing everything I loved…. I don’t want to be known as a gay rugby player. I am a rugby player first and foremost. I am a man…. It’s pretty tough for me being the only international rugby player prepared to break the taboo. Statistically I can’t be the only one, but I’m not aware of any other gay player still in the game.”
Gareth Thomas, 35, a International Rugby player for Wales and says he came out three years ago to his coach and several teammates after hiding his secret for so long. In his lengthy profile at The Daily Mail, he says he learned to play straight after his first gay experience at 18, but when he and his wife started to break up he could not maintain his secret feelings and the thought of being a single gay man. Thomas had been married to his teenage sweetheart, Jemma, and though they are about to be divorced, he says they remain loving friends. (Daily Mail)
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