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Outlook: Coming out made me a world-class rugby referee

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Coming out made me a world-class rugby referee

06/04/2020 GMT

BBC World Service - Outlook, Coming out made me a world-class rugby referee

Nigel Owens survived a suicide attempt before accepting his sexuality and finding success

Nigel Owens spent years battling addiction, bulimia and mental health issues before accepting his sexuality and finding international acclaim as a rugby referee.

Now a household name in international rugby, Nigel Owens grew up in a small village in Wales.  At the time, he didn’t know any openly gay people, so when he started feeling attracted to men he felt he had to hide it. Nigel struggled for years with bulimia, steroid addiction and even a suicide attempt before accepting himself. Through it all, rugby refereeing became his passion and as his career took off, he realised he had to reveal who he was publicly to achieve his dream. But Nigel still didn’t know how the rugby world would accept him as the first in the professional sport to come out. 
 
North Korean defector Mi-Hyang Park (not her real name) remembers her life there as a child, and how after escaping the country to China her family were still not safe. She tells Outlook reporter Je Seung Lee about bringing her children to Europe and how her eldest formed a special friendship with another refugee. 

Photo: Referee Nigel Owens during the 2020 Six Nations France v England game
Credit: Jean Catuffe/Getty Images

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