Great britain Sevens stars Jones and Quansah – team-mates in a same-sex relationship – open about problems of being gay and participating sports activity

“You are actually too fairly to become homosexual,” happens to be an opinion which has exasperated Meg Jones and Celia Quansah for some time. The eharmony Jak czyjeЕ› wiadomoЕ›ci couple that found through a mutual pal immediately after which solidified their particular connection as soon as both had been taking part in Sevens for Great Britain symbolise not just exactly how women’s exercise has been evolving but how British world has actually.

Although women’s rugby is long seen as a good place for homosexual and bisexual professional athletes, its rare that two will chat therefore publicly as to what it is like to get into a same-sex partnership. Tennis has become ahead of the curve in that way. Perhaps that Jones is only 24 and Quansah try 25 happens to be an indication of why they’ve been hence available.

Jones believes negative stereotyping around rugby and lezzie women has led to troubles, not merely gay participants instance by herself but women picking right up the activity.

“I often tried to receive named a ‘lesbian’ in an adverse means when I is small simply because we starred rugby. The two can’t state that since they understood whom Having been, they asserted because we played rugby after which that triggers a poor affect on chicks specially using up rugby because individuals declare things such as, ‘rugby will transform an individual gay’.

“Being named labels familiar with p— me right off. It genuinely irked me personally. I used to be rather an angry teen in any event, consequently it caused myself. Are also known as ‘a man’ aswell, I hated that. It impeded me coming-out quite. I had 24 months of bottling it up because of those remarks. I never ever talked about several things because Having been bottling much up.

“People have actually this stereotype of what they thought lesbians appear. The thing I really love is the fact that we injure those borders. Someone say to all of us, ‘you are too quite to become gay?’ It’s extremely stupid. It is revealing men and women matter through an alternative channel; numerous people need this nearly adverse plans of just what gay consumers appear as if. That are these people to express exactly what homosexual consumers need to look like. That’s the conflict we’ve got on our personal hands. You would probably never turn around and declare, ‘you seem really directly!’

Cardiff-born Jones, despite her soft a very long time, is one thing of a stalwart of English women’s rugby creating starred in the Red flowers 2017 industry pot marketing campaign as a 20 year old plus the past annum was a hold for the Team GB women’s Sevens back on Rio Olympics. In late 2017 she transferred inside The uk Sevens plan full time.

Quansah’s rugby trip has been most non-traditional. The girl of a Ghanaian parent and English mother, she lived in Twickenham, and elder brother Joe played for London Scottish, but them initial absolutely love is athletics. She prepared with Olympic big jumper Morgan sea along with set get remained good friends. As a heptathlete, she competed against Dame Jess Ennis-Hill from inside the British competition. But she did start to fall-out of love with athletics while in university and obtained rugby as “something fun” to utilise, arriving to this model 1st workout in “multi-coloured tights and trainers”. Regardless of this she was actually trialling for The united kingdomt Sevens within half a year.

Jones and Quansah are keen to normalise their unique condition and breakdown stereotypes. “It must spoken about therefore should certainly not be something that is definitely taboo,” claims Quansah. “To tell the truth I am lucky, we never really fought against being released. As Soon As We for starters got together We realized there had been various other partners various other teams but I Did So inquire, ‘would the coaches psyche?”

Jones swiftly chips by. “but since you retain they expert. If you think about this in practices and other workplaces, really whom you communicate the common soil with.