International Rugby Legend Gareth Thomas: ‘I’m Gay’
December 21, 2009
International rugby legend, Gareth Thomas, revealed that he is gay in an interview published in the UK-based Daily Mail on Saturday.
“It’s been really tough for me, hiding who I really am,” Thomas told the Mail. “And I don’t want it to be like that for the next young person who wants to play rugby, or some frightened young kid. I don’t know if my life is going to be easier because I’m out, but if it helps someone else… then it will have been worth it.”
Thomas said he came out to close friends in late 2006.
Thomas is the first top-level rugby athlete to reveal that he is gay, according to CNN.
Of Thomas’s accomplishments, Reuters noted that he is Wales’s “most capped player with 100 appearances who has scored 41 test tries to place him ninth on the all-time list.”
“I’m proud of who I am,” Thomas says. “I feel I have achieved everything I could ever possibly have hoped to achieve out of rugby, and I did it being gay.”
CNN’s original story about Gareth Thomas’ decision to come out publicly as a gay man contained three problematic phrases that included the words “admitted,” and “confessed.” GLAAD called the network to voice concerns and explain that such words are highly offensive and suggest that being gay is somehow shameful or inherently secretive.
CNN listened and changed the story immediately; replacing the terms with appropriate words like “revealed,” “discussed,” and “came out.” GLAAD commends CNN for bringing this story in line with the most fair and accurate standards.
We will continue to follow the media’s coverage of international rugby champion Gareth Thomas’s coming out story. Updates can be found on GLAADblog.org
Related Posts:Ruggers Campaign for LGBT Equality
December 10, 2008
Let’s give some kudos to our athlete cousins across the pond!
The United Kingdom’s Rugby Football League (RFL) has become the first national governing body of a major sport to support a campaign for LGBT equality. The league announced last week that they have joined British LGBT group Stonewall’s Diversity Champions Programme.
“I am very proud to be a part of an organization that has a genuine commitment to equality and diversity,” RFL’s Equality and Diversity Manger, Sarah Williams said in a press release. “I am confident that the RFL as an organization and the wider Rugby League family will rise to the challenge and look forward working with Stonewall to make a real difference.”
When the new season begins in March, the league will post advertisements like “Some people are gay. Get over it!” on rugby grounds and in programs and fanzines. The RFL will also organize a forum for staff and players on LGBT issues.
This is one of the largest direct actions towards combating homophobia in sports. And it was completely proactive! According to Williams, RFL joined the campaign after regional clubs had success working with local LGBT groups.
American teams could learn a thing or two from the Brits. Go to any major sporting event, and you still hear anti-gay slurs. GLAAD’s office has fielded and taken action on calls from fans who have gone to baseball, football and other sporting events and have heard anti-gay slurs directed toward players and other fans.
But, we have seen improvement. After GLAAD connected The New York Times and some New York hockey fans earlier this year, Katie Thomas wrote about their experiences with homophobia at New York Rangers games. Then, representatives from the Rangers and Madison Square Garden met with former GLSEN executive director Kevin Jennings and Director of the New York Gay Hockey Association Jeff Kagan.
Jennings said they discussed creating a public service announcement and more sensitivity training for Rangers employees. And although Kagan doesn’t attend games as often as he used to, he hasn’t heard as much anti-gay behavior or comments recently.
Efforts to end the chants and slurs are good, but let’s address these anti-gay attitudes BEFORE they are vocalized. Teams can’t wait until someone shouts something hurtful from the stands or a player makes an offensive comment in an interview. It’s alienating and downright scary for LGBT fans.
GLAAD’s Sports Media program continues to work with professional sports organizations to provide more outreach towards fans, and to act quickly and appropriately to show that slurs will not be tolerated at games.
We’re all there (LGBT and straight) to cheer on our favorite teams. And we should feel comfortable and safe to do so.
My 9/11 Heroes
September 11, 2008
It’s hard not to feel pain or sorrow on September 11. Whether you knew someone who died at the World Trade Center or at the Pentagon or not, today is a universally solemn one. I have two heroes that died seven years ago today.
I went to Loyola Blakefield (an all-male Jesuit high school) with Dan McNeal, one of the smartest and most ambitious guys I’ve ever met. Our high school’s philosophy was to produce students who were “men for others.” Dan lived up to that moniker on September 11, 2001 — by helping people out of the World Trade Center (where he worked) before thinking about his own safety. Every year our high school honors his memory by hosting the Dan McNeal Golf Outing, which benefits the The Dan McNeal Memorial Fund.
Mark Bingham (right) with fellow ruggers
My other 9/11 hero, Mark Kendall Bingham, is someone I never had a chance to meet, but who has had a significant impact on my life and the lives of so many other gay athletes.
Mark Bingham was a passenger on United 93 and is believed to have helped organize the storm on the plane’s cockpit which stopped the terrorists from hitting yet another target that day.
Press coverage of Mark’s heroism reached far and wide – from Bay Windows in Boston to The Guardian in the UK and from the pages of Sports Illustrated to the pages of The Advocate. Mark and the other passengers aboard United 93 sacrificed themselves while saving countless lives in the process.
Like Dan, Mark was one of those “men for others.”
Presidential hopeful Sen. John McCain spoke at Mark’s memorial service in 2001. Standing next to Sen. McCain was Mark’s partner of several years, Paul Holm. In an interview with The Advocate, Holm said, “[e]veryone should be proud of him – black, white, gay, straight, Bay Area, New Yorkers – because of his actions that day. We in the gay community should be particularly proud because his actions broke a lot of stereotypes.”
Mark was an avid sportsman who played rugby for UC Berkley – a powerhouse of collegiate rugby. He was also an original member of the San Francisco Fog, one of the first gay rugby teams in the nation, and helped plant the seeds for the beginning of another gay rugby team in New York City, the Gotham Knights.
His fingerprints are on every gay rugby team in some way or another. When I played for the Phoenix Storm, we chose blue and gold as our colors – in honor of Mark’s alma mater, UC Berkeley. Now, I play for Gotham in New York (whose team colors are also blue and gold), a team that might never have formed if it were not for Mark’s meeting with New York rugger Scott Glaessgen.
Gay rugby players commemorate Mark’s heroism in an international tournament held every two years, appropriately named the Bingham Cup. The first tournament, hosted by the San Francisco Fog in 2002, had eight teams participating. This past June the tournament saw over 30 gay rugby teams meet in Dublin, Ireland.
The sport continues to grow in popularity among the gay community with almost 40 gay rugby teams worldwide. News and feature articles on Mark helped to spur this growth, so much so it’s been dubbed “the Bingham effect” by some. You can read more about that here.
Mark’s mother, Alice Hoagland, continues to infuse Mark’s spirit into the game.
Mark Bingham with his mother, Alice Hoagland
In 2006, I traveled to New York City from Phoenix to play in the Bingham Cup. At the opening ceremonies, Alice Hoglan addressed the crowd of ruggers. She told us how the movie studio behind the film United 93 wanted her to fly out and attend the European premiere. She explained how she declined the studio’s offer. Why? Well, she had to be with her boys in New York to play some rugby.
I can’t begin to describe the roar of cheers that erupted and what her presence meant to the hundreds of men and women who were there to watch and play.
The following day, my mother drove up from Baltimore to watch me play. While I was on the ground changing socks, Alice walked up to my mom and started a conversation.
I listened as the two talked about what it was like watching their sons play this crazy and dangerous game. Then, my heart dropped when I heard my mom ask which team Alice’s son played for. The conversation that followed, however, was amazing. Watching these two moms talk to each other so intensely about how proud they were of their sons who were openly gay and athletes is something I’ll never forget.
Mark Bingham wanted gay athletes to be accepted not only by their straight counterparts, but by themselves as well. Shortly after the San Francisco Fog was accepted into the Northern California Rugby Football Union, a union until that time comprised of only straight teams, Mark sent his teammates the below e-mail.
Now we’ve been accepted into the union and the road is going to get harder. We need to work harder. We need to get better. We have the chance to be role models for other gay folks who wanted to play sports, but never felt good enough or strong enough. More importantly, we have the chance to show the other teams in the league that we are as good as they are. Good rugby players. Good partiers. Good sports. Good men.
Gay men weren’t always wallflowers waiting on the sideline. We have the opportunity to let these other athletes know that gay men were around all along – on their little league teams, in their classes, being their friends.
This is a great opportunity to change a lot of people’s minds, and to reach a group that might never have had to know or hear about gay people.
Let’s go make some new friends…and win a few games.
Mark understood the power of living life openly and honestly. I take his words and his memory to heart every time I step onto the pitch. I hope you will adopt his message in your life as well.
May the memories of Dan, Mark, and the many other heroes and victims of 9/11 live on with us.
Top Stories Today – 09.05.2008
September 5, 2008
National News:
Regional News:
- Deseret News (UT) – Salt Lake Police Seeking Gay Man’s Attacker
- The Independent Florida Alligator (FL) – Residents Protest Possible Amendment to Anti–Discrimination Policy
- East Valley Tribune (AZ) – Arizona’s Catholic Bishops Urge Voters to Ban Gay Marriage
- NBC30.com (CT) – Transgender Singer Files Complaint Over Karaoke Snub
- The Star-Ledger (NJ) – Matos to Press McGreevey Fraud Claim
International News:
- Agence France-Presse (France) – France to Call for EU, UN Action on Women’s and Gay Rights
- BBC News (United Kingdom) – Gay Rugby Team Plays with Pride
- East London Adviser (United Kingdom) – Gay Fears Rise After Street Gang’s Murderous Attack
From the Blogs:
- Queerty – AZ Catholic Leaders Push Against Gay Nups
- Towleroad – McCain Aide Steve Schmidt Meets with LCR, Talks of Lesbian Sister (With Video)
- Gay News Blog – AB, Bryan Cave, Thompson Coburn among most gay-friendly companies
- Pam’s House Blend - James Hartline on Michelle Obama’s speech at DNC before LGBT delegates
- Towleroad – Hollywood Greets Michelle Obama at ‘LGBT Reception’ Fundraiser
- The Bilerico Project – Top Ten Problems with the Gender Identity Disorder Diagnosis
- Towleroad – Salt Lake Police Send Alert Out on Gay Basher One Month Later
- PageOneQ – Church’s ‘loving warning’ to gay teens: ‘I kissed a girl…then I went to hell’
- Wired – What the Buck? Creator Inks Deal With HB
