Gay rugby star Gareth Thomas was not sure how his coach or teammates would react to his coming out. It was a nerveracking decision for him. A recent Sports Illustrated cover describes Thomas as "The Worlds' Bravest Athlete", and they are right. His coach Scott Johnson recalls the story of Gareth, whose nickname is Alf, coming out to him and what transpired after:"Does it have something to do with your sexuality, mate? Tears filled Alf's eyes. "You knew all the time," he said. "So ... you're still Alf, right? We love you. This doesn't change anything about you as a person or how the boys feel about you.... But you'll need support, mate. You can't hold this alone. I'm going to speak to a few of the boys. They need to know." Alf shuddered, hung his head and nodded, then went to a bar in the team hotel and waited in terror for two hours. Johnno checked into a room there, invited in two of the most senior and respected members of the team, Martyn Williams and Stephen Jones, opened a bottle of red and poured out the truth. The two players finally entered the bar. Williams put a hand on Alf's back. "Hey, mate," he said, "no big deal. We don't care. Cheers for getting it out. Why didn't you tell us before? "
Wow. What a lucky guy to have the support of such an amazing group of sportsmen and friends. I hope that all the people in his life were as supportive as they were. Everyone should be so blessed as to have that kind of unconditional love surrounding them. [source]
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