Sam Stanley Comes Out

Sam Stanley, the England Sevens rugby player, has come out as gay, making him the first English rugby union professional to come out. His coming out comes a few weeks after Keegan Hirst came out, making him the first British rugby league professional to come out.

Rugby players are comin’ out, y’all.

Stanley, just twenty-three — and hot … sorry, I’m shallow like that — says he once considered  suicide over coming out because he was scared telling the truth would ruin his rugby career.

“I was standing on a bridge about four or five years ago, overlooking a motorway in Essex. However, looking back, the idea that I would jump was ridiculous but it was as if I was thinking that I could get rid of the pain in one go. You are so worried about what people will think and I thought I couldn’t be a macho rugby player the way I was, and there was nothing else I wanted to do with my life.”

Stanley’s decision to come out comes nearly six years after the former Wales captain Gareth Thomas revealed he is gay.

As I've said, it only takes one person to light the path for others to follow, so Welcome Out, Sam, and please accept as our gift to you, the Official Coming Out Toaster Oven, perfect for toasting crumpets for tea, and a copy of The Gay Agenda.

Welcome out, and thanks for adding more light to the path for others to follow your lead.

The Guardian