Rugby Player Simon Dunn Shares A Kiss With His Partner To Fight Homophobic Remarks

After Australian rugby player Israel Folau said in a since-deleted Instagram post last week that gay people will end up in hell unless they "repent their sins and turn to God," there's been a lot of tension in the sport. This was intensified after the club failed to reprimand Folau for his remarks. Many athletes in the sport have fought for some time against homophobia within the confines of rugby and this incident feels like a "two steps back" kind of thing. Now, one athlete and his boyfriend are taking a stand.

Simon Dunn, an Australian bobsledder and rugby player, decided to share a pic of him and his partner kissing after a match. The pair both play on London’s queer-inclusive Kings Cross Steelers. What seemed like an innocent post of the couple simply sharing a "victory kiss" (as Dunn referred to it) turned into a statement very quickly.

Dunn shared the pic on Twitter, but then re-shared it and tagged Folau in the post.

Victory kiss. pic.twitter.com/REvhoUN2bX

— Simon Dunn (@BySimonDunn) April 22, 2018

RT for @IzzyFolau https://t.co/PAhFg9aL2b

— Simon Dunn (@BySimonDunn) April 23, 2018

In an interview, Dunn spoke about the situation with Folau. "Unfortunately the sporting world is still a place where kissing my partner after our team’s victory is still seen as an act of defiance or rebellion. It’s an environment where someone’s homophobic comments can be defended as ‘just his opinion’ and that truly is worrying. I’ve devoted my life to sport, and as an out and proud athlete I’ll continue to do what is natural for me, and hopefully break down stereotypes in the process."

Rugby Australia has an inclusion policy in place to protect all players from discrimination. While Folau's comments went without any consequences, bringing the situation to light will hopefully ensure this kind of thing doesn't happen again.