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Featured Image Credit: Supplied/NRL
Topics: Australia, NRL, Rugby League
Max Sherry
Rugby league legend Ian Roberts has revealed that his parents didn't speak to him after he came out as gay.
He says that his family household featured "a lot of racism, and misogynistic and homophobic language", which is why chose to keep his sexuality from his mum and dad for so long.
Roberts is one of the Manly's most iconic players.
A true 'hard man', he went on to make 194 appearances in the NRL spread across stints with the South Sydney Rabbitohs, the North Queensland Cowboys and - of course - the Sea Eagles.
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In 1995, Roberts became the first professional rugby league player in the world to come out to the public as gay during his playing career.
Long before his announcement, whispers began swirling about Roberts' sexuality.
Roberts' own mother heard two work colleagues spreading a false rumour that Roberts had been caught having sex in public with another man and that police were investigating the matter.
"My dad retold the story and said 'we just need to hear you say you are not gay, and that is good enough for us'," Roberts told the BBC.
The talented sports star then told his parents that he was, in fact, gay.
"My dad's first words were: 'But you play footy, you play for Australia.' That was where his head went," Roberts said.
Following that conversation, Roberts revealed that his parents didn't speak to him for 18 months.
It was this response from his own family, as well as the vile treatment of professional footballer Justin Fashanu when he came out, which is why Roberts decided to keep it a secret.
That said, things couldn't have been any different when he broke the news to his Manly Sea Eagles teammates.
"It was kind of a bonding moment for us. They were my tribe and my people, and it almost felt at times like they were trying to protect me," Roberts said.
"My experience was so different to Justin's [Fashanu] - I was embraced."
He added: "I had this persona of being an aggressive player, a guy who could handle myself on the pitch - and I could. My coming out challenged people's preconceptions of gay men.
"There were elements of pushback - of course there were - but if I knew what I knew now I would have come into top-level rugby league as a gay man."