Coming out was the hardest thing I ever did says gay referee

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  1. flapjack  6 Dec 2008, 9:07am  Report
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    You’ve got to admire the bravery of Nigel Owens for coming out.
    The rest of us have a bad enough time coming out to friends and family, but to come out in such a testosterone-charged environment which traditionally is almost as homophobic as football is a real mark of courage.
    Mind you, being a referee, you have to develop a pretty thick skin in the first place. It ranks up there with telesales as a career where you’re regularly verbally abused by total strangers.

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  2. Riondo  7 Dec 2008, 1:11pm  Report
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    Good on you, Nigel.
    The world of Rugby is in any case pretty weird as far as being gay goes. Players often have a lot of sex together in private – ‘just for a laugh’, of course – and are very homophobic in public. Let’s hope Nigel starts a positive and healthy trend.

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  3. Yes, it sure would be easier if other gay men in so called ‘macho’ football world would also come out. We have thousands of footballers and I’ve not heard of a gay one amoung them, apart from the one who commited suicide some years back. It’s a good reason to hate football, which I do, with a passion.

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  4. Charlene  8 Dec 2008, 10:25am  Report
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    Nice on Nigel! Being from Wales I know how hard it is to come out.

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