Out rugby star Keegan Hirst celebrates atop Manchester Pride float
Newly out gay rugby star Keegan Hirst has sat atop a float for today’s Manchester Pride celebrations.
Keegan Hirst became the first openly gay rugby league player to take part in a game earlier in August.
Hirst, 27, became one of the first players in his sport to open up about his sexuality – and his battle with the “macho” image of Rugby League – in a revealing interview with the the Sunday Mirror.
As he took to the pitch for the first time since coming out yesterday, he became the first British Rugby League player to do so as an out gay man – with an overwhelmingly positive reaction from the crowd and fellow players alike.
He has since taken part in a naked photoshoot.
Today Stonewall tweeted a photo of Hirst at Manchester Pride which attracted thousands of revellers today.
The Batley Bulldogs prop was pictured in a Stonewall t-shirt reading “Some people are gay. Get over it!”
He was alongside soap stars including Jennie Mcalpine and Antony Cotton on the Coronation Street float.
