Rugby star says it was ‘probably tougher’ coming out to family than teammates
Rugby NewsThursday, 13 February 2025 at 07:11
Exeter rugby player Jack Dunne has opened up about his journey of coming out, revealing that facing his family was "probably tougher" than revealing his sexuality to his teammates.
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In a recent interview with BBC Sport, the 23-year-old athlete shared his hope that his story would inspire other players to embrace their identities.
"It would be good for other gay or bisexual men to see people like me and hopefully it’ll give them a bit of confidence to be able to be who they are," Dunne expressed to the broadcaster.
Reflecting on his personal experience, Dunne admitted that disclosing his sexuality to his friends and family posed greater challenges compared to making it public among his teammates.
"It was probably tougher coming out to my friends and family back in the day," he acknowledged. "I’d been OK with it for five years or so, so it wasn’t really a big thing for me when I came out publicly, the personal one was probably bigger than the professional one."
Dunne also extended praise to fellow athlete Jake Daniels, who made headlines in May 2022 by publicly coming out as gay, becoming the lone openly gay male professional footballer in Britain.
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"That was very brave of Jake as football is probably known a bit more for crowds abusing players, and not even good craic stuff, they obviously do some abuse that’s across the line, so I have a lot of respect for how brave Jake was."
Dunne's candid remarks come at a pivotal moment as LGBTQ+ representation in sports continues to be a significant topic, underscoring the importance of acceptance and visibility within the athletic community.
Four more out and proud rugby players, including first openly gay All Black
RUCK wanted to celebrate five out and proud rugby stars. Their focus? How we can collectively align to take action that drives change on and off the pitch.
1. Campbell Johnstone
The former All Blacks prop has openly come out as gay. Johnstone becomes the first former All Black to do so, and has received tremendous support for this courageous act.
This is a milestone moment for the All Blacks, who have celebrated the occasion, sharing Campbell’s story on social media.
“If I can be the first All Black that comes out as gay and take away the pressure and the stigma surrounding the whole issue then it can actually help other people. Then the public will know that there is one in amongst the All Blacks.”
“To be able to do that could possibly be one of the final pieces in the puzzle for New Zealand sport…it could be a very vital piece that just gives everyone closure.”
“If I open up that door and magically make that closet disappear, then we’re going to help a lot of people.”
Johnstone played three times for the All Blacks, all in 2005. He made his debut against Fiji, and also took on the British and Irish Lions tourists. Johnstone spent his entire Super Rugby career at the Crusaders, before moving to France in 2009 for a four year tenure at Biarritz.
2. Nick McCarthy
The 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.
3. Craig Maxwell-Keys
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.
4. Nigel Owens
All fans, players, and anyone who knows anything about rugby will know the name, Nigel Owens. Besides having the record for most test matches refereed, Owens has earned a reputation as one of the top rugby referees around the world.
The Welshman is also a TV personality and a devoted activist for the LGBT cause, winning “Gay Sports Personality of the Decade” at the Stonewall awards ceremony in London back 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.
Referee, Nigel Owens during the Heineken Champions Cup Final Match between Exeter Chiefs and Racing 92 at Ashton Gate, Bristol on the 17 Oct. PHOTO: Phil Mingo/PPAUK
"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.
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- Jordie Barrett over Damian de Allende is far from being correct. The hype around Dupont is also overreaching, he's probably 4th in the world and has been since the 2023 WC. He also avoids certain matchups which is strange. The rest of the list is pretty good apart from minor subjective biases.JasonMarlow16-09-2026
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