The first openly gay rugby personality, who refereed at last year’s Rugby World Cup, will be speaking in Auckland this October. The Auckland Writers Festival, supported by Auckland Grammar School presented an ‘in conversation’ event with Welsh rugby referee Nigel Owens MBE. One of the highest-ranked rugby union referees in the world, Owens came out in 2007, saying: "It's such a big taboo to be gay in my line of work, I had to think very hard about it because I didn't want to jeopardise my career. Coming out was very difficult and I tried to live with who I really was for years. I knew I was 'different' from my late teens, but I was just living a lie." An Evening with Nigel Owens October 20, 7pm Auckland Grammar School
Credit: GayNZ.com Daily News staff
First published: Thursday, 1st September 2016 - 11:17am