A gay former provincial rugby player has spoken out about how he felt too ‘suffocated’ to come out and that New Zealand rugby remains one of the last bastions of discrimination by sexual orientation. Ryan Sanders, who represented Buller and Canterbury B in the early 2000s, has told th Herald on Sunday he never felt comfortable enough to reveal his sexuality during his playing days and even had "fake girlfriends". "It is super important now that the environment evolves," Sanders says. "We are making a lot of steps forward in terms of sexual equality and, with rugby being New Zealand's No1 sport, it is the last hurdle that we need to take." He adds: "I know the gay All Black thing gets brought up a fair bit but I think it would be amazing if someone does come out - I am sure there is one or two.” Sanders feels there has "definitely" been a gay All Black at some stage, though no one has ever come out publicly. Read the full story here
Credit: GayNZ.com Daily News staff
First published: Sunday, 26th January 2014 - 8:27am