A professional rugby player in the U.S. has ended 2020 by publicly revealing he is gay. He hopes that by coming out he can inspire others to live their authentic lives. Devin Ibañez played rugby in college for the University of Massachusetts, and then for the Major League Rugby team, New England Free Jacks, in 2019. He is now hoping to be picked by an English team to be closer to his boyfriend, a British medical student, Fergus Wade. The two met in 2017 whilst Wade was studying at Harvard.
Ibañez posted a lengthy Facebook post yesterday about himself and his decision to speak out now. “As 2020 comes to a close everyone is looking ahead to 2021 and setting new goals. This year it became increasingly difficult to find things I could take control of” he said.
“Many things felt out of my control and it was hard not to feel helpless and at times hopeless. I took the time to reflect on my life and what aspects I could control and make positive changes to that would impact my day to day life and happiness. It became clear to me that living my life with more transparency and openly celebrating who I love would have an immediate positive impact on me and those I care about. So I want to start 2021 by celebrating the love of my life and my partner Fergus Wade who has been with me through the highs and the (very) lows of the last three years.”
“As of now I am the only openly gay rugby player to earn a contract with an MLR side (At least I haven’t heard of any others, would love to talk with anyone who has.) I hope that I will meet others Iike myself playing a high level of rugby and hoping to inspire the next generation of proud LGBTQ rugby players. So I will proudly call myself ‘that gay rugger’ in hopes that one day it won’t sound strange in men’s rugby. And because I know that I am much more than just that gay rugby player, and more than just someone obsessed with rugby.”
Ibañez and Wade have now set up an Instagram account called @thatgayrugger to share photos of their life. Ibañez also posted several images of himself and his boyfriend, “living our best life together to make the homophobes in my friends list cringe.”
He said he hopes he can change the sport he loves to be more welcoming to gay players.
Via Queerty
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