5 rugby lads who are out and proud – including Exeter Chiefs star

Nigel Owens is a well-known figure in the world of rugby, recognized by fans, players, and anyone with even a passing knowledge of the sport. Not only does he hold the record for refereeing the most test matches, but he has also established himself as one of the most respected rugby referees globally.

Beyond his officiating duties, this Welshman has ventured into television and has become a dedicated advocate for the LGBTQ+ community. In recognition of his contributions, he was honored with the title of "Gay Sports Personality of the Decade" at the Stonewall awards ceremony in London in 2015.

"It's such a big taboo to be gay in my line of work, I had to think very hard about it because I didn't want to jeopardise my career," he confessed.

"Coming out was very difficult and I tried to live with who I really was for years. I knew I was 'different' from my late teens, but I was just living a lie."

Refereeing in as sport like rugby also hindered his decision.

"When I became a referee, it became clear that there was nobody in the sport who was gay.

"The rugby world is very heterosexual and masculine, and this made things difficult.

"Although that’s not to say that the sport is openly homophobic. It was just never an environment where I felt like I could be myself."

He wrote in his column: "There’s not too much I can say at the moment about the process itself, but we are both incredibly excited. It’s something that we’ve spoken about for a few years now and it’s taken a while to get here, but now that it’s happening we can’t wait, although I must admit it’s also a little nerve-wracking.

"As any parent will tell you, there’s no bigger commitment than raising a child, so that was obviously the main reason why I decided against the South Africa job in the end. I couldn’t, nor would I want to, go away for the next six months with this happening."

American rugby union player who came out as gay in 2020. He is an advocate for inclusion and diversity in the sport.

A self-described “rugby maniac,” Ibañez played in college for the University of Massachusetts, and in his coming out message posted photos with his boyfriend Fergus Wade, an English medical student he met in 2017 while Wade was doing research at Harvard studying sleep deprivation in fruit flies.

Posting the photos on his coming out story added power to his desire be his authentic self. He created his Instagram account yesterday as “thatgayrugger,” since he is one of the very few openly gay pro rugby players, past or present.

Maxwell-Keys, who took charge of the 2020 Gallagher Premiership final, eventually decided the time was right to reveal his sexuality to colleagues at Twickenham as well as his local club, Lichfield RFC in 2019.

Now based in Cheltenham, he aims to continue moving up the referees' pecking order - and his experiences since coming out have indicated that sexuality will be no barrier to that.

The former Leinster scrum-half came out as gay in June 2022, and thanked coaches Leo Cullen and Stuart Lancaster for their “unbelievable” support.

McCarthy added that he had previously thought about quitting professional rugby union because of his sexuality.

The 27-year-old added that he had taken strength from the stories of footballer Josh Cavallo and American footballer Carl Nassib, in addition to his former bisexual teammate Jack Dunne.

This summer, the scrum-half completed a move to Chicago Hounds from Major League Rugby.

Out pro rugby player Jack Dunne will have a new home next season. The Exeter Chiefs, who play in rugby union’s top division, Premiership Rugby, recently signed the promising young rugger from Leinster, a club in Ireland.

Last year, Dunne publicly came out as bisexual in an interview with the Independent, talking about his desire to be a role model for LGBTQ kids. That’s an impressive goal for any 22 year old.