Despite restraining-order worthy emails, we likely won't get hot former-rugby star-turned-international-gay-icon Gareth Thomas himself wrapped around any part of us anytime soon. But thanks to Louboutins, we can at least get a red-soled wing tip inspired by the stud wrapped around our feet! We'll take it!

We got our first full look at Christian Louboutin's new "Gareth" shoe today. Follow the jump to check it out!

Updated Tuesday, 10:45 a.m. CST

Our dream of seeing Tom Hardy go rough and tumble as openly gay international sports icon Gareth Thomas has been crushed. Details follow.

Updated Tuesday, 10:45 a.m. EST

Lee Steele, the footballer fired last week from the Oxford City Football Club following a homophobic Tweet directed at openly-gay sports star Gareth Thomas, has apologized in a statement released by his new team Nantwich Town FC. So, what does Steele have to say for himself?

America won't have the only reality TV market featuring out gay celebrities this season (see Wednesday's Celebrity Apprentice post)—the United Kingdom's popular Celebrity Big Brother series will kick off a new season with ex-pro-rugby star and international gay figure Gareth Thomas included on the cast.

We love a good ol' fashioned rugby player "ripped body" match, which is what's currently going on between former teammates Nick Youngquest and the openly-gay Gareth Thomas. After Nick received word of a recent modeling gig Gareth booked, the more-experienced model saracastically teased his rugged friend that he "wasn't ripped enough to model." But a picture is worth a thousand words, so Gareth responded to the challenge by Tweeting an image taken during the shoot that should shut Nick's funny (and gorgeous!) mouth (while opening ours). Follow the jump to see if gay rugby star Gareth Thomas is ripped enough to model...

Which out athlete says he owns more Louboutins than his own sport’s footwear? Find out after the jump.

Regular Instinct blog readers should be aware of my borderline-obsessive lurve for the world's most prolific out professional athlete, Gareth Thomas. I have a feeling I'll have more bitches to fight and more hair to pull after folks see his new 'It Gets Better' video. 

Out U.K rugby hunk Gareth Thomas (who will soon be played by Mickey Rourke in a biopic) visited Ellen DeGeneres to share his inspiring coming out story. The clip has been passed around today more than we were at the NYE after hours, but this one is actually worth spreading. The full interview 

It was speculated earlier this year that Mickey Rourke would play Gareth Thomas in the upcoming biopic about the Welsh rugby player who happens to be gay (see below for Rourke's instructions on labels). Over the weekend, Rourke confirmed with a U.K. radio show that he landed the role. Following is transcript from the broadcasted interview which shows that perhaps Mickey is the right choice to bring Gareth's story to the screen, despite our concerns (and fantasy casting; follow the jump to see who we nominated to play the rugby star):

Carr: Is it true you’re about to play a gay rugby player?

Rourke: You’re not supposed to say that, okay? Here’s the deal. When I met the rugby player, Gareth Thomas, this is one thing that he and I talked...

London is already making history with its 2012 Olympics. Today, the first GLBT pins in Olympic history were revealed at a ceremony including hot out rugby star Gareth Thomas, who said he'd wear the badge with Pride. 

Stephen Frost, head of diversity and inclusion for the London games, said that banishing homophobia from the sports world was one of the goals of the city's 2012 Olympics. "Given that we are the biggest events in the world," said Frost, "we are saying LGBT people are absolutely welcome as part of that, that is a step-change in how LGBT athletes, sportsmen and women, can feel comfortable in taking part in their sport."

This is the second pro-gay sports-related item to come out of the U.K. in as many days. When will the...

After openly-gay British pro-Rugby player Gareth Thomas received homophobic taunts from the mouths of his competitor's fans, the Rugby Football League (RFL) in the U.K. issued a massive fine. The Yorkshire Club, whom Thomas was facing off against with his fellow Crusaders, must pay a £40,000 fine for breaching the RFL's respect policy by hosting immature fans.

From PinkNews.co.uk

The Yorkshire club was punished by the Rugby Football League (RFL) for the abuse Thomas received from its supporters at a March 26th match against the Crusaders.

A statement from the RFL said: "Castleford were found guilty of unacceptable behaviour, of breaching the RFL's respect policy, of misconduct by their supporters and of conduct prejudicial to the interests...

You don't wanna mess with an angry gay Brit! Ian McKellen was being interviewed by the BBC and went off on a bit of a tangent, slamming professional athletics for not being open to gay athletes.

"When it comes to the business of simply being honest about who they are, some of them (sports stars) become little shrinking violets because they're afraid, probably, of being booed from the terraces, and that must be a horrible experience and shame on people who do it," McKellen said. "But it ain't (sic) going to stop someone being a fantastic footballer because they're honest about their private lives, is it? I don't believe so and the world is changing and sport, I'm afraid, is very slow to catch up."

These comments come just a few weeks after...