As part of Pri Month, BBC Sport looks at why there is a lack of openly gay male MMA fighters and what needs to change.
Contents:
- A WORLD MARTIAL ARTS CHAMPN STRS VISIBILY AS AN OUT GAY FIGHTER
- A GAY MAN'S JOURNEY OF DISVERY THROUGH MARTIAL ARTS
- GAY MARTIAL ARTIST FDS SUPPORT, MARARIE HIS SPORT
- OPENLY GAY JIU-JSU PRACTNER FDS SUPPORT FROM EVERYBODY
- PRI MONTH: WHY ARE THERE NO OPENLY GAY MALE MMA FIGHTERS?
- ANRSON SILVA: THERE ARE A LOT OF GAYS MIXED MARTIAL ARTS
- THE BATE: HOW GAY IS MMA?
- NAMIBIAN MPS BACK ANTI-GAY LAW SPE SUPREME COURT LG
A WORLD MARTIAL ARTS CHAMPN STRS VISIBILY AS AN OUT GAY FIGHTER
William Seth-Wenzel is an openly gay jujutsu fighter whose boyiend cheered him on as he won the world champnship. * gay martial artist *
For world jujutsu champn William Seth-Wenzel, his g out procs as an openly gay fighter clud havg his boyiend at meets cheerg him on.
Seth-Wenzel is also proud to have won as an openly gay athlete, havg e out gradually the last two years. His terview wh Outsports, nducted over email and Instagram, is the first time he has talked publicly about beg gay. “Dog martial arts and beg gay is que rare I gus, ” he said.
“Not beg gay maybe, but beg out as gay is not very mon.
A GAY MAN'S JOURNEY OF DISVERY THROUGH MARTIAL ARTS
"At the end of the day, to them I'm jt Rh: their teammate, iend and I jt happen to be gay." * gay martial artist *
I don’t know anyone who is out and gay the sport. I know the feelg of beg secretly gay a macho-domated sport. Beg such a macho sport where domance is the goal ed some of his fellow petors to ially qutn whether Seth-Wenzel actually was gay.
“It was basilly like the other fighters wanted a nfirmatn om me if I was gay or not.
They had obvly seen pictur of me and my boyiend on Instagram, but still they need to hear om me that I was gay. My nt was also gay and, therefore I knew that my fay would accept , but still felt very hard tellg them.
GAY MARTIAL ARTIST FDS SUPPORT, MARARIE HIS SPORT
* gay martial artist *
I'm also a gay man who holds black belts two forms of martial arts. Now I know you're not gay.
"I mean I'm gay. ) Sce there is an obte ncept that all homosexuals crave sexual enunters wh any and all members of the same sex, and sce martial arts is a ntact sport, I wasn't sure how my martial arts peers would take or what they would thk. Only one gay profsnal fighter exists - Shad Smh of the Uned Stat.
Recently, lbian Amanda Nun of Brazil beme the first openly gay dividual to hold a UFC champnship belt. I'm also an openly gay fighter; my ma foc is Brazilian Jiu Jsu, but my sendary art is Muay Thai.
OPENLY GAY JIU-JSU PRACTNER FDS SUPPORT FROM EVERYBODY
The UFC fighter says: "You want to be gay, be gay, ’s all right." * gay martial artist *
There aren't many of openly gay fighters out there, and unfortunately my sport has a pretty bad reputatn that seems to sre many away om trag. It sadns me that many gay people may not ever experience the amazg support and skill offered by the sports bee of fear: fear that they won't be accepted, or that they might get kicked out or shunned for beg who they are. There is a dishearteng story of a man who was kicked out of his gym after beg outed South Carola a few years back, and I thk that reputatn has stuck among the gay muny spe of clear progrs over the years.
In turn, this ed a stigma the gay muny for those of who participate BJJ/MMA. When I brought this up to teammat, they were appalled by reactn the gay man South Carola faced the Jiu Jsu muny.
PRI MONTH: WHY ARE THERE NO OPENLY GAY MALE MMA FIGHTERS?
The big nam like UFC fighter Anrson Silva and Dana Whe (print of the UFC) are on rerd havg said that beg gay is not an issue. At the end of the day, to them I'm jt Rh: their teammate, iend and I jt happen to be gay. The tim are changg, and everyone should be on board -- straight and gay.
Nicholas “Rh” Rotas is one of the few openly gay martial artists the Uned Stat.
Not a sgle man on the team r that they’re sparrg and trag wh a gay man, and Rotas tak pri that fact.
ANRSON SILVA: THERE ARE A LOT OF GAYS MIXED MARTIAL ARTS
“It sadns me that many gay people may not ever experience the amazg support and skill offered by the sports bee of fear: fear that they won’t be accepted, or that they might get kicked out or shunned for beg who they are. There is a dishearteng storyof a man who was kicked out of his gym after beg outed South Carola a few years back, and I thk that reputatn has stuck among the gay muny spe of clear progrs over the years.
THE BATE: HOW GAY IS MMA?
“At the end of the day, to them I’m jt Rh: their teammate, iend and I jt happen to be gay. An openly gay martial artist fdg support group fellow fighters is an credible velopment.
NAMIBIAN MPS BACK ANTI-GAY LAW SPE SUPREME COURT LG
Not all sports are so acmodatg to gay athlet, though. EMPOWERMENT THROUGH MARTIAL ARTSThe IAGLMA MissnThe Internatnal Associatn of Gay and Lbian Martial Artists (IAGLMA) was born the excement and mararie of Gay Gam III Vanuver, Canada. Formed the spir of Tom Wadll’s Gay Gam visn, IAGLMA embrac the prcipl of “Participatn, Incln, and Achievement of One’s Personal Bt.
Until Gay Gam III, many LGBTQI+ martial artists traed the closet, often not knowg any other martial artists om their muny.
IAGLMA was formed to ensure that the credible experience of GGIII would be clud every Gay Gam to e.