Sports : Rugby Player Keegan Hirst Comes Out
Keegan Hirst is the first British rugby league player to come out as gay. He says the time had come “to be true to myself”.
The Batley Bulldogs captain, who is separated from his wife, said he only recently came to accept he was gay when his marriage broke down. The father-of-two told the BBC’s Victoria Derbyshire show: “I suppose there’s been feelings there for a while but I was convinced it would go away”. He also said “I just thought it was a phase – it was inconceivable for me to think that I could be gay.”
Congratulations Keegan and hit me up on A4A and let’s get married and have kids! lol
Watch the video after the jump!
Dave
Baseball player David Dennison came out 2 days ago. When he told his team, they said they’d figured he was gay but since he hadn’t made it an issue, it wasn’t an issue for them. They just expect him to be like everybody is else on the team, a good ball player and a good team mate. Seems no one cares much anymore when public figures come out. A good thing, really!
Being a man who was married and also has children, I know what it is like to have to be true to yourself. My biggest fear is that my ex wife would keep my kids from me, and to an extent, she did. I pretty much had to wait it out until they were old enough to make up their own minds. My youngest came around, and I am still hopeful that the oldest will come around as well. My message to Mr. Hirst is to stay strong for yourself and your children, and stand your ground with everyone, and don’t allow them to keep your children from you!!
I am carrying his baby.
It just goes to show that you can’t hide away your true self. No matter what society says what you should do, the truth will always win. What needs to happen is to put your wife’s and kids feelings under consideration going forward. They will need support just as much as you, so do t be selfish when it comes to them. I still see the love in your eyes when you talk about her. Prepare yourself for the backlash you’ll receive after this comes out publically, you know how the media will explode with this relavation. In time you being Gay will be just a small thing, as long as you perform on the field of Football, or what we call Soccer in this Country.
Proud of you…. I stayed hid for years.. Married young… Three children… Three grandchildren… Divorced since 1987…. Life is so much better out of the closet with the door open….. Bill
Good for him. It’s so good to see a person with some
influence be true to themselves. Hope he is able to
handle the oncoming scrutiny and haters. I don’t mean
to overstate the obvious. He is nuclear hot. WOW!!!
What a hunk!
Nice.
Wow, congratulations, so my question now is…how do I go about getting my hands on him?
Hang in there, be patient with your ex-wife. There is love there and your kids will see it and understand that when everyone is healthy and honest life is good. Much love and support. P.S. I think the USA should ditch the NFL and go RUGBY and get tougher.
Right On! Professional athletes like him coming out will help the younger people on there journey of being aware and ok with who they are. The world is much more accepting to other lifestyles of people coming to grips of who they are. Hopefully our lifestyle stays in the positive light without life’s drama.
Holy fucking hell he is hot! Did you see his calendar pinup pic with the other dude? (it’s being falsely reported as a ‘photoshoot’) I’d pay anything to watch them fuck.
A cage is no more a closet than a prison cell is a suitcase. People are not born in closets… they are put there… by repeated acts of violence, ridicule, abandonment, and indifference. One doesn’t “come out” so much as triumphs over trauma and abuse. The proper response to gay disclosure shouldn’t be a practiced indifference so much as it should be apologies and remorse from the sick society and culture that inflicts this kind of abuse on children.
Re: THUG – damn insightful…wish you’d run for Prez!
Duh . . . Any guy as good looking and sexy as Keegan, of course is gay! Best of luck, Keegan, on your new open gay life — and, if you need any help showing you the “gay ropes,” hey, I volunteer! In all seriousness, thanks for your courage and honesty and best of luck.
Glad this guy came out but I find it odd the when Micheal Sam came out the were so many negative post. What’s the difference?
@Wes The difference could be that Hirst is a macho beefy hunk of straight acting man where Sam came across as a teary eyed sobber with a flamish partner.
@hunter0500 Hurst also let society dictate his sexual identity which affected the lives of his wife.Sam may have been emotional but he tried to stay true to who he is and gets disowned because of it yet. I just question the character go the men the gay community praise. Hurst could be viewed as a coward how macho is that?
@hunter0500 I could say that hirst choose to be a coward and let society dictate his sexual identity effecting his wife and family while Sam choose to stay true to who he is at a very vulnerable time in his life so yeah he is going to be emotionally. In the end they both did the right thing I just question the negative treatment of one guy and characteristics of the men we as a community praise
I’m happy for him. I seen comments on Facebook attack him because it took him a while to come to terms with himself. People were calling him a coward, “coming out” is a brave thing to do, especially, when they come to terms with themselves. Good for him.
MY HERO
@Hunter0500… I was forced to reply to ur comment.. Again, this society continues to perpetrate racism…to believe that we are gay does not exclude the racism that is endemic in our community… What difference does it make and the acceptance of Michael
Sam and his coming out journey… Coming out is personal and your comments are not helpful…
What are we congratulating him for? Aren’t we past this?
@wes Both Hirst and Sam did nothing more than thousands and thousands of men have done; went functionally straight because even though they knew or had an idea they liked men, the social environment they grew up in abhorred the notion. This is especially true for men who were teens before the 1960s. Coming out could have meant loss of family and friends if not literally have death. Younger guys and long time gays can have a hard time understanding that for these guys, coming out can still have repercussions because others (spouses, children, business partbers, etc.) are involved. As the years roll on, it gets easier. When teens say “I’m gay” is, the reaction of those around them is much more accepting than it was. For some, there are still repercussions and being gay us still a “NO!”, but those cases are dwindling. For the older “tweens”, changing spots after decades as a “straght guy” is often not simple. There is still a risk of rejection. That risk however seeems too to be dwindling.
@hunter0500 I agree with you last statement but it doesn’t
1. Go alone with your first statement
2. Your last statement doesnt explains why these two men were responded to diffently on separate post.
I know some people think its easier to come out now but in truth its not. As a black teen I feel there is the same amount of risk but also there is the risk not being supported by the gay community simply because of skin color. That’s why it was hard for me to see this difference in response by the gay community here. The social isolation I felt coming out in my teens as a black gay man in the black and gay community cause severe mental issues for me.basically I was invisible to black and gays. So for people on here to judge someone as less manly for coming out when he could risk losing a job/the very thing that made someone happy and to say its so manly to lie to get the job. That a little fuvked up
@wes. As my now 20 something kids say when kids came out in their middle and high schools, no one cared; if the coming outers we decent kids there were no issues. Issues did arrive when the coming outers used being gay as an excuse for not getting something they wanted. “You’re only disagreeing with me because I’m gay.” My kids said said they wanted to respond “no, it’s because you’re an asshole” The kids say the school environment overall looked beyond orientation. Not 100% but toward it. It has yet to accept assholes, however.
@hunter0500 I’m confused by your response how your straight kids if they are straight veiw coming out is different from what gay people actually experience. Plus it differs from person to person and location and several other factors. For example coming out in the south is different than coming out in San Francisco. Coming out for people of different social economic background are different but have overlapping issue
Solid argument Wes…..it’s not as easy and simplistic as it would appear. Truth be told even young people in school are more receptive but again we are product of our environment and factors such as race, economics, social class and community will determine how and when we come out of the closet. No matter how and when you do it…it is however, not easy to put yourself out there.
I was the same way (only not as hot). I just thought it was a phase and would go away. I was married for 22 years (and faithful the whole time) I got divorced at 45 and tried it out. I liked it. It has been difficult as and father of 4. It is a work in progress.
Thanks for the post.
… wish the picture had scratch n sniff …
Jeb: send me an email on adam to okzebra. my kind of guy.