Culture

Rugby League Star Greg Inglis Has Inked Himself In Support Of Marriage Equality

One of Australia's most beloved footballers standing up for equality is a pretty big deal.

by Hannah Hawkins  30 August 2015

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Rugby league giant and captain of the South Sydney Rabbitohs Greg Inglis is winning hearts like it’s the 80th minute of the 2014 Grand Final all over again.

:’)

A proud recent father and generous philanthropist, the golden boy of rugby league is now sporting a couple of new tattoos in support of marriage equality.

The show of respect comes after the NRL joined almost 400 other organisations — including the Football Federation of Australia and the AFL, which even held its first ever Pride Cup in celebration of LGBT rights earlier this year — in signing a letter in support of same-sex marriage in July.

Fellow Rabbitohs teammate Tom Burgess also came out to show support personally last month, revealing that growing up he was very close to a same-sex couple and “always thought it was normal”.

Strong vocal support like this from institutions such as the NRL is especially important to the LGBT community when their track record isn’t so squeaky clean. Though the organisation aims to promote diversity and inclusion through a strong anti-discrimination policy, there were multiple incidents last year of high-profile players using homophobic slurs during games.

And in May this year, the international Out On The Fields study — the largest survey of homophobia in sport to date — found that Australia suffered the highest rates of LGBT exclusion, with 90 percent of young people feeling they couldn’t be honest about their sexuality and 13 percent of gay men feeling like they couldn’t participate in sport at all.

So as a public figure, but especially as a captain of a major rugby league team, Inglis’ gesture is significant in helping empower Australian LGBT fans and the wider LGBT community. Also, he was recently nominated for Sports Dad Of The Year, and the photos are adorable.

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Feature image via Greg Inglis/Instagram.