‘People need to get over it’: NRL star throws his support behind LGBTQIA+ community

NRL fan favourite Toby Rudolf has again thrown his support behind the LGBTQIA+ community telling everyone to ‘get over it’ when it comes to the stigma of being gay. 

The Sharks player received a wealth of support and positivity after he opened up about his own sexuality amid the NRL pride jersey drama.

In an interview with the Sydney Morning Herald he spoke about his own ‘fluid’ sexuality and his desire for the NRL to have its own pride round.

NRL/Supplied.

In a new piece with Fox Sports, he revealed the backing he received from the community following his comments and reaffirmed his belief that everybody should ‘love everybody’.

He said: “I think I wanted to just throw my support behind the community that has sort of been there my whole life

“I think the main thing though is the LGBTQI+ community were sort of dragged through the mud that week and they were just looking for a bit of, I wanted to give them a bit of a boost.”

And while Rudolf has been open about his own sexuality and love for the community he admits that it is a difficult task to come out while playing sport.

NRL/Supplied.

However, he adds: “There’s still just a bit of I guess stigma around you know being gay and all this and whatever but people just need to get over it I think.

“I can understand where people come from with the religious background and whatnot but in the general world today, the modern world it’s just ELE, everybody love everybody.”

There's a reason why the Sharks star has quickly emerged as one of the most-likeable characters in rugby league.

Huge kudos to Toby Rudolf.

In his initial interview, the prop spoke about his experiences of going out in gay clubs and kissing people of all genders and sexuality. 

He revealed that the majority of the comments he received after the fact were positive, with many applauding his bravery.

He added: “I didn’t really think it was that brave I just thought it was me just talking about my stuff, it didn’t phase me too much.

“I went out to Northies that night after the game, after we won that golden point game and everyone there was just being really nice as well, being really supportive, saying they loved what I said and yeah overall was just overwhelmingly positive.”

Sounds like we need a commemorative pride Sharks jersey in the future.

Topics: Australia, Rugby League, NRL, Cronulla Sharks

Jayden Collins

Jayden Collins is a Journalist at SPORTbible. He has worked across multiple media platforms in areas such as sport, music, pop culture, entertainment and politics. He is part of the editorial team for LADbible Australia.