I didn't say we havent , what I said is statistics dont prove that we should or shouldn't either way

As for openly discussing it either in the press or on a RL forum , or even in a cosy chat over dinner , it is best left alone until the relevant person decides they are happy to discuss it


Sex , Politics and Religeon are all private items that all have a choice either to discuss with others or not

Statistically we should have a certain number of Homosexual,BNP supporting Catholics playing RL as well as a certain number of Straight,Tory Jews , not forgetting the Cross Dressing,Raving loony party Muslims

This was posted on the first page, and has summed up the following 13 pages pretty well.

What a non-subject...

I don't believe there is the interest in RL for a newspaper to "out" a player. Unless there was a story to it, for example the lover of a player going to a paper with his story, then a newspaper won't just run the story.

As an example, it was clear to Brian Clough that Justin Fashanu was gay. Fashanu was often seen in gay night clubs. But it only became a newspaper story at the end of Fashanu's career, when he came out to the Sun after an incident involving the police in the US.

IMO there is a world of difference between being openly gay and publicly gay. IMO anyone with any sense would not choose to be publicly gay. A RL career is a short career and there are very few players who would want the hassle that being publicly gay brings.

Ah right, that's okay then. As long as gay people keep their sexuality private there's a place for them in RL.

I dont understand what the link is between rugby and your sexual preference is. Why do gays need to come out. If a players preference is to bang 2 birds at a time he wouldnt come out. I suspect he will laugh about his conquests with his mates but not go to the Sun or Mirror.

They dont

Indeed. But equally they should be able to do so if they wish without having to worry about the consequences. It is clear from both this thread and the lack of players who have come out that that is not currently the case. This may also put people off the sport for fear that they may be 'outed' and suffer as a result.

Or not

Gay people should not be able to be open about their sexuality?

for certain , and also that they might want to keep their private life , private

As I said earlier

Statistically we should have a certain number of Homosexual,BNP supporting Catholics playing RL as well as a certain number of Straight,Tory Jews , not forgetting the Cross Dressing,Raving loony party Muslims

I'm not suggesting that there are gay players, however:
If there are no gay players that suggests there is something putting gay people off from the sport.
If there are gay players and they all feel they have to keep this private (as Smokey says if they didn't it would be public) it suggests they are afraid of the consequences of being open.

Either way there's a problem. In all likelihood both are true and part of what puts gay people off is the lack of any gay players. If there wasn't a problem this thread would never have made it beyond one page.

and that is a terrible story which in the end cost a man his life. and your time line is a little wrong, It was Fashanu's coming out which effectively ended his career, not his coming out because his career had ended

I would bloody hope we would deal with a similar situation pretty differently.

And also, this was 20 years ago.


exactly, and its a problem that this is the case. Its pathetic to be honest

there are a lot more homosexuals than straight tory jews, BNP supporting Catholics and Cross dressing raving loony party muslims.

If any of these were significant portions of the population and we didnt have any, at all, then it would also be an issue.

And again. If we dont have any homosexuals in the game why not? and if we have none who feel comfortable coming out, why not?

It's only an issue if you want it to be an issue. And you seem very desperate to make it a RL issue. I suppose everyone needs a hobby.

you're correct. Homophobia is only a problem if we take notice of it. If we pretend it doesnt happen and bury our heads in the sand its not an issue

maybe we should take the same track with racism and all bigotry

we clearly dont need to wonder why some groups may feel excluded from our game if we just pretend they dont exist

Spot on definatly not enough Chinese and Dwarfs in the sport , more needs to be done

we should probably look at why more ethnic minorities arent in the sport.

Why are there so few players of asian descent in our game when there is such a large minority in our heartland areas? are we doing enough to attract them? are they in some way finding the game isnt welcoming them?

Correct , a much more pressing concern than if we have any Gay players or if those Gay players want to keep their private lives private

Oh I dunno, there's LOADS of Australians, especially in North Wales, where they MUST be an ethnic minority.

I'd definately pay to watch the Chinese first 13 take on a team of dwarfs. Has anyone suggested a dwarf team play in the championship next season?

Or even an Aussie team. We could call them Crusaders...

Would you be willing to let Burrows leave ?

It's not an either/or.

Never said it was , but it is clear how many asians we have playing the game , whereas the situation with Gay players is more difficult to define