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World’s top rugby referee Nigel Owens: I considered chemical castration
Nowadays, Nigel Owens is generally regarded as the top referee in the world of rugby. The Welshman had the honor of officiating over the recent Rugby World Cup Final in London, becoming the first openly gay man to do so.
He came out in 2007 and has talked in the past about the weight that was lifted from his shoulders when he decided to be open about his sexuality.
However, he wasn’t always so at ease. In an interview with CNN he has said that he went as far as considering undergoing chemical castration – hormone treatment to quell his sexual desires – in an effort to not be gay.
‘I didn’t want to be gay,’ he said in the interview. ‘I actually went to the doctor at one stage to see if I could be chemically castrated in any way, if it would get rid of me being gay.
‘Looking back at that it was a horrific thing that one would have to do but that’s what I was going through at the time.
‘It was only when my Mum came to see me in hospital when I tried to take my own life and she told me: “If you try to do anything like this again then you take me and Dad with you because we don’t want to live our lives without you.”
‘I was an only child. I sat up in bed that night and I cried. I thought to myself that I need to grow up here. That’s when I accepted who I was and that was the biggest challenge of my life over with.
Gareth Thomas became the first leading rugby player to come out in 2009. The fellow Welshman captained his national team and played for his country on 100 occasions. This year, two other rugby players in Britain – Keegan Hirst and Sam Stanley – also came out as gay.
Owens said that other people have yet to come out simply because they haven’t yet accepted themselves.
‘A lot of people are struggling with who they are. They can’t tell other people they’re gay because they’re fighting it themselves. That’s one of the reasons a lot of people are not out in sport yet.’
Earlier this month, Owens won an award for ‘Sports Person of the Decade’ from UK LGBT advocacy organization, Stonewall.
‘Times have changed a lot from that dark night when I was worrying about if I could carry on with my refereeing or being myself.
‘Everybody knows who I am as far as my sexuality is concerned and when everybody at the World Rugby Awards stands up and applauds me that says a lot.’
I really am shocked but truly humbled & honoured to have won the @stonewalluk sportsperson of the decade. #Proud pic.twitter.com/Vzkxzo9Crb
— Nigel Owens (@Nigelrefowens) November 5, 2015
H/T: CNN
The post World’s top rugby referee Nigel Owens: I considered chemical castration appeared first on Gay Star News.
David Hudson
www.gaystarnews.com/article/worlds-top-rugby-referee-nigel-owens-i-considered-chemical-castration/
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