Tag: rugby

A gay-friendly rugby club in France has taken the end of year calendar fundraising drive one step further and has posed naked for their 2020 edition. The Tou’Win club in Toulouse was created in 2006 as a gay-friendly club in an association that fights against homophobia in sport. In 2017, the Toulouse team was European

Openly-gay Welsh Rugby legend, Gareth Thomas intends to help break HIV stigma after confirming that he is HIV positive. The 45-year old former rugby player shares his status for the first time publicly in an interview with Sunday Mirror, where he described the moment he found out. “I went for a routine sexual health test at

Former rugby player Israel Folau (screen capture via GoFundMe) Homophobic Australian rugby player Israel Folau has filed a $10 million lawsuit to the Fair Work Commission against Rugby Australia alleging he was sacked for his Christian beliefs. Not only is the former Wallabies player demanding his job back, but 30-year-old also wants $10 million in compensation. The Guardian reports Folau issued a statement regarding the lawsuit which read, in part, “No Australian of any faith should be fired for practicing their...

Disgraced rugby player Israel Folau has officially filed a $10 million lawsuit against Rugby Australia after the organization fired him earlier this year for spewing off all sorts of homophobic nonsense on social media. In the lawsuit, Folau, who had been one of Australia’s highest-paid athletes before his epic fall from grace, argues that his contract was unlawfully terminated due to his Christian beliefs. But Australian rugby officials maintain that Folau breached a players’ code of conduct by violating its code...

Australian Simon Dunn is an athletic jack-of-all-trades whose name has frequently graced the online pages of Outsports. He’s someone who has worn a number of titles throughout his career in the sports world: Former bobsledder and his country’s first out gay man to compete in the sport. Rugby player who isn’t shy about trolling homophobic colleagues by publicly kissing his boyfriend after wins. Owner of more social media accounts than shirts. ...

Each week, Outsports stops the clock for an instant reply of the week that was. It’s our way of memorializing the glorious victories, the ignominious defeats, and the players and personalities who made them, lived them or just couldn’t avoid them. We realize our roster may differ from yours, and we welcome your comments, contributions and critiques. We read them all! Details on how to reach us are below, after our look at the week’s winners and losers. Winners: The USWNT,...

What a difference a day makes! Former professional rugby player Israel Folau launched a GoFundMe page this week to raise money for his legal expenses after having his four-year $5 million contract with the New South Wales Waratahs canceled after he posted series of homophobic diatribes on social media in April. Yesterday, Folau had only raised $1,300 towards his $3 million goal. Today, he’s raised more than $460,000 and counting from almost 6,000 individuals. Some donors have used their real names when...

Former professional rugby player Israel Folau is in a bit of a bind and he’s hoping fans will help bail him out… to the tune of $3 million. In April, the now ex-New South Wales Waratahs player took to Instagram to lecture his 330K+ followers about the evils of homosexuality, warning them that “hell awaits … homosexuals,” and urging gay people to “repent” as “only Jesus saves lives.” “Those that are living in sin will end up in Hell unless you...

Israel Folau is no stranger to homophobia Australian rugby player Israel Folau is under fire after posting on Instagram a tirade of homophobic abuse today (10 April). The 30-year-old took to social media to spout that ‘hell awaits … homosexuals,’ adding they should ‘repent’ as ‘only Jesus saves lives.’ Hundreds of Instagram users slammed the New South Wales Waratahs player, with one saying ‘you are an absolute flop.’ What did he post? Folau dropped a screen-capped poster that read: ‘Warning. Drunks, homosexuals, adulterers, liars,...

Israel Folau faced a storm of criticism last month after saying gay people are headed for ‘Hell’ - but he’s showing no signs of repentance Australian rugby player Israel Folau has posted a video to his social media that demonstrates he has little regret for his comments last month about gay people. At the beginning of April, rugby union player Folau posted a comment on Instagram saying God’s plan for gay people is: ‘HELL.. Unless they repent of their sins and...

When Australian rugby star Israel Folau spoke up last month in a since-deleted Instagram comment about his views that gay people end up in hell unless they “repent their sins and turn to God”, folks were understandably upset. Among those were fellow athletes who’ve been actively trying to combat the homophobia that’s long been associated with professional sports. But despite Folau’s comments clearly being at odds with Rugby Australia’s inclusion policy, the institution did not impose a sanction on him. And that’s...

"My faith is more important than my career." Earlier this month, Australian rugby player Israel Folau came under fire for claiming homosexuals would go to hell unless they repented. In a newly-penned column for Players Voice, the 29-year-old athlete says he’s prepared to walk away from rugby if his “situation becomes untenable due to his Christian beliefs.” Folau was recently asked by an Instagram follower about God’s “plan for gay people.” In a since-deleted post, Folau replied, “Hell, unless they...

England rugby player Denny Solomona has received a ban for making a homophobic slur. Solomona, who also plays for rugby union team Sale Sharks, has been handed a four-week suspension for verbally abusing Worcester Warriors’ Jamie Shillcock during their Aviva Premiership match on 24 March. Shillcock alleged that Solomona used the anti-gay slur “faggot” towards him twice during the match, according to The Times. Solomona contested the charge, but was found guilty at a Rugby Football Union disciplinary hearing on Thursday 5...

Australian rugby superstar Israel Folau is under fire after replying to a follower in an Instagram post who asked, “what was gods plan for gay people?” In the comments section of the post, Folau, who plays for New South Wales Waratahs, replied, “HELL.. Unless they repent of their sins and turn to God.” Folau, a devout Christian raised as a Mormon who converted to the Assemblies of God fellowship with his family in 2011, made headlines last September during Australia’s debate...