Gareth Thomas recently opened up about his passion to represent and speak up for the LGBTQ+ community.
The 49-year-old Welsh Rugby legend joined ‘Celebrity SAS: Who Dares Wins’ where he had to survive “a grueling military training” in “the most unforgiving jungle in the world”. However, he revealed to PinkNews that he actually misses camp because of the sense of belongingness that he felt in it.
“Do you know what? I would like more anything in this f**king world to live my life like it was in that camp.
Okay, take away the spiders, and all the horrific tasks every day. But just to live a life where you can really feel like you belong, because your purpose is no greater, your purpose is no less than the person next to you. It was such an empowering feeling to have the sense of being the same,” he shared.
Thomas publicly came out as gay in December 2009. He retired from professional rugby in 2011, and is now a happily married man living in a small town in Wales where he was raised. Moreover, he was previously forced to come out as HIV positive, and he has continuously made efforts to challenge the misconceptions of living with it, including completing a 140-mile Ironman triathlon.
During the interview, Thomas further admitted:
“I used to be afraid of the word of being an activist…”
However, his perspective about it completely changed, explaining:
“What I’ve found is that if people aren’t active, if people aren’t constantly voicing the want to move forward, then I feel like it’s really easy for us to fall back. It almost feels like activism right now is fighting just for where we are, to hold ground.”
“And that’s what I’m extremely passionate about. I will not be silent. I will not lose my voice,” he further expressed.
Ever since his retirement, Thomas has dedicated himself to advocating about LGBTQ+ equality, mental health and HIV awareness.
Sources: thepinknews.com, en.wikipedia.org
He became one of the world’s first professional athletes to come out as gay back in 2009, which seems like yesterday. I remember him speaking up for the gay community since way back then.